To Protect and Destroy
by PrincessKetchup
Summary: Muggle-born Alexis hates that she has to leave her North American school and transfer to Hogwarts with only a year left. And with bad timing- The elusive Voldemort, who had been hiding since the Tri-Wizard Tournament, is finally making his appearance and wants a seemingly harmless, but dark, relic that Alex had the misfortunes of obtaining. Luckily, no one knows she has it. Yet...
1. The Flight to London

**A/N: This fanfic began in 2004. At the time, it was used as a distraction from my parents divorce and my silly teenage woes. During the course of my high school years, however, it became **_**more**_** than just an escape- it was alive. It allowed me to not only create, but to live an adventure of my own.**

**What ****with ****life**** (****jobs****, ****my ****best ****friend****/****inspiration ****moving ****out ****of ****state ****with ****her ****military ****husband****, ****other ****adult ****obligations****, ****etc****.,), ****I ****lost ****my ****motivation ****to ****conclude ****it****. ****I ****think ****a ****part ****of ****me **_**doesn**__**'**__**t **_**want ****to ****finish ****it****, ****because ****that ****would ****end ****my ****childhood****. ****Close ****the ****curtains****. ****But ****really****, ****who ****are ****we ****kidding****? ****The ****story****- ****my ****life****- ****has ****not ****truly ****ended****. ****Nor ****will ****it****. **

**The ****show **_**will **_**go ****on****. ****I ****will ****see ****to ****it****. ****And ****you****, ****the ****readers****, ****will ****be ****my ****inspiration****. ****My ****motivators****. ****My ****teachers ****and ****critics****.**

**This ****might ****have ****a ****slow ****introduction****, ****but ****it****'****s ****so ****you ****can ****get ****an ****idea ****of ****the ****characters ****involved****. ****Hopefully ****it ****won****'****t ****take ****long ****for ****it ****to ****pick ****up****, ****and ****you****'****ll ****begin ****to ****see ****familiar ****faces****!. :)**

**I ****have ****n****o ****ownership ****of ****the ****Harry ****Potter ****series****. ****The ****contents ****of ****this ****fanfic ****are ****original ****properties ****of ****J****.****K****. ****Rowling****, ****excluding ****my ****own ****OCs****.**

_I was in an empty room. "Hello?" I called out. The echo in the circular chamber was my only response. A single candle was lit in the middle of the floor; shadows lingered against the wall despite there being no corners. Suppressing a shudder at the eeriness, I approached the white waxed candle. An open chest was suddenly in view, as if it was there the entire time. Its contents were not visible through the intimidating darkness. Continuing forward, a distant hum grew louder. Louder. Everything was losing focus. Alex. Alex-_

"Geez wake up already." My brother's voice was heard over the constant buzz that didn't disappear with my dream.

Groggy and delirious, one glance around the plane reminded me I was no longer in my bed back in Texas... Back in America. Sighing, I straightened up from my fetal sleeping position in my seat, massaging my sore neck and scratching at my head, further disturbing my messy dark brown hair.

"Where are we?" I mumbled, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes while scrounging for my glasses. Sean, who was just over a year younger than me but looked as if he could be my twin, snickered at my state without saying another word.

"We're just about to land, Alexis hun, so we're having to buckle up." Mom answered from Sean's other side next to the aisle. She then pointed at the window. "Take a look! Isn't it beautiful?"

Outside had fields scattered like abstract art, surrounding small suburbs. I was used to the country, but this British landscape was nothing compared to our Texan farm.

"We're here!" Mom announced several hours later. It was my turn to nudge Sean awake and peel his face off the taxi window.

Our ride pulled into a driveway, and the broken off pieces of concrete crunched under the tires. In front of us appeared to be a squished looking apartment, surrounded by other identical squished apartments made of red brick.

Stepping out, I stretched and twisted my back around to look behind me. Nothing but a lonely playground... With as much rust I saw on the slide and swings, I was sure it terrified any sensible parent.

"Jerry isn't home yet, he's still on his way from work..." Mom said more to herself.

Jerry. Jerry Macintosh. Mom's British boyfriend. Well, formally her boyfriend. Now they're engaged. Thus, why my brother and I were dragged along to the outskirts of London from our perfectly comfortable home.

Sean wordlessly helped the taxi driver unload our travel suitcases. Sighing, I faced back to the front of the brown bricked apartment and watched Mom locate the spare key under the worn doormat. She was practically dancing with excitement.

"Come on, come on! Let's see what he has set up for us!" Mom waved her hand once. Sean, still silent, rolled both his and Mom's luggage behind him, leaving mine to myself. As I followed him into the house, I heard our London taxi reverse out of the driveway and head back to the city. I had the sudden urge to chase after him... No use it would do me, since he couldn't magically fly me back to home-

_Don__'__t __call __it __that __anymore__, _I scolded myself. _The __farm __isn__'__t __home __anymore__. __We__'__re __going __to __be _here _now__._ The thought didn't improve my mood at all.

Inside, the apartment started with a narrow hallway. The left opened with an archway to the living room, while straight ahead were stairs that made it to the second floor towards an unknown number of doors.

"Jerry said there's a spare room down the end of the hallway that you kids can stay in for the summer. Oh Sean, thank you for getting my things!"

"You're welcome," Came an automatic tone. I suppressed a much desired sigh that would have expressed my disapproval of his apparent attitude. _Then __again__, __I__'__m __not __doing __much __better__._ I still felt he could have hidden his dissatisfaction of being here a bit better.

"We'll go ahead and take everything up while you take a seat and relax. Which room do you want your things to go in?" I offered. I mostly wanted to take a peek into Jerry's room and get an idea as to what kind of person he's going to be like living with.

Not to say I _didn__'__t _know him, but I only knew him through Mom's web-chat and phone calls. Mom first met him two years ago when she made a Great Britain vacation with some of her girl friends. I don't remember the details, though I was sure Mom mentioned it every chance she got.

A few months after she returned home to Texas, Jerry emailed her saying he was going to be in Dallas for a few weeks... From that point on, they've been together.

I was real happy for her, she finally had someone else to share her time with other than kids since our real dad died in a stereo-typical car accident caused from some drunk. But it didn't alter the fact that Sean and I didn't want to get dragged into this. We were happy with our school in the Canadian Rocky Mountains.

"I'll get my own bag, don't worry about it. I'm going to head into the kitchen and find out what to do about dinner. Head on up and check out your room," Mom insisted.

Shrugging, I grabbed a hold of my luggage with both hands and began heaving them up each step. The narrow space made me feel itchy all over with discomfort. I wasn't claustrophobic, but this was ridiculous. The walls were lined with photos of Jerry on fishing vacations, pubs with guy friends, and even a few of him and Mom with the sea in the background, his dark red hair almost clashing with the sunset.

Moving on up, I prayed the room we had was enough room for a couple of already-tall teenagers and their unique possessions.

As Sean and I reached the second level, the front door opened up.

"Susan? Hello?" A male's voice called out. The sound of someone tripping on luggage was obvious.

Mom responded immediately Sean and I hurried even more to the back room.

I pushed open the door and switched the light on... And sighed with relief. A futon was up against the wall, a twin size air mattress laid on the floor in front of it. The great part was there were still plenty of floor space for luggage and trunks. Opposite from us were rows of bookshelves, a green reading chair, and an antique floor lamp. Indented in the carpet marked where a desk used to stand.

"It could've been worse," Sean finally voiced as he dragged everything to a corner. I nodded my head.

"As long as he doesn't act like an evil stepmother like in Cinderella or Snow White, I think we'll be fine." I tried to reassure the two of us.

We were quiet for a brief moment, taking in the surrounding of our new home for the upcoming months.

Below we heard Mom hollering our names, breaking us from our thoughts.

"Fuck," Sean muttered under his breath.

"Agreed." I said, walking out the bedroom door. On our way down the stairs, the wood boards squeaked obnoxiously.

"Well," I snickered only loud enough for Sean to hear. "If we want to sneak out, we'll have to fly down the steps."

"No problem." Sean winked.

Ahead were Jerry and Mom with arms around each other, grinning. Jerry's glasses looked slightly crooked on his this face. Grey hairs were becoming noticeable on his sideburns and his stomach was sticking out, despite his skinny appearance.

"So Alexis! Sean!" Jerry smiled. _Nope__, __no__crooked__teeth__... __Is__he__really__British__?_ "We finally meet in person! I hope the flight wasn't too tiring." He gave each of us a firm handshake. "Is the room to your liking?"

"Yes, thank you." I said. "I imagine we'll take up every space once the rest of our things get here. Did you have a desk in there before?" I sounded casually, but the effort was definitely forced.

"As a matter of fact, I did. Just removed it a few days ago. I've slowly been taking things down, packing them up and transferring them to the new apartment closer into the city. I'm praying it'll all be finished before you leave for school, but I doubt you'll want to move all your things three times in one month." He seemed pretty excited about his plans for us all.

"By the way," Jerry added as an afterthought. "What school are you attending?"

"Oh, it's called..." My brother stopped himself, his eyebrows furrowing. "Well, I can't remember the _name_, it was pretty weird sounding, but I _believe_ it's far up north from here..." Sean trailed off, hoping his half-truth would pull off.

"What?" Jerry had a surprisingly booming laugh that shook the walls around us. "You don't even know where it's at? What sort of private school did you sign them up for if the place apparently doesn't want to be found?"

"Eh, well," I piped in. "We're suppose to be receiving our acceptance letters in a week or two, so we'll know what to do then. Our principal from our last school pretty much handled all the transfer papers for us."

"Really? Jerry's eyebrows raised. It was starting to feel very uncomfortable in the small hallway.

"Kenneth wanted our kids to attend a school with specific standards. It was one of his last wishes." Mom gently touched his arm.

Lies, of course. We haven't been here ten minutes and the old method of Mom trying to protect her babies were already being used on the man she now loves. My slightly improved mood instantly went dark.

"Not that we had much choice about this, we weren't given a lot of time to prepare." Sean spoke exactly what I thought. I was struggling to not scowl. Mom responded with The Mother Frown of Disapproval.

"Go on upstairs and finish unpacking. We'll call you when we've decided what to do for dinner."

"Actually, if you don't mind..." Jerry didn't finish his sentence. Instead, he walked through the living room and beckoned Sean and I to follow.

Located in the back of the room was a swinging door. Walking through, we ended up in a pastel sea-green kitchen with worn and stained white countertops. Add kitchen ware and dishes fit for a bachelor, then it was truly a lonely looking home. How this man have been living in an overused apartment on his own was a mystery to me. To my left was a round plastic kitchen table, the morning news paper laid open next to an empty plate with toast crumbs and a half empty coffee cup.

Jerry was rummaging through a drawer that was apparently dedicated to random items that had no other place to stay in the home. Paper and loose wall nails could be heard rustling around.

"Here," Jerry ripped out a page from a phone book and handed it to Sean who was closest. "This is a map of the general area. It's still light out for a while, so go ahead and walk around. Tour the area, get some fresh air and space to think. By the time you return, dinner should be planned."  
Sean only seemed to be able to accomplish staring at the torn page in confusion.

"Thanks," I spoke for the both of us, grateful to Jerry's consideration. "We'll go ahead and grab our phones in case something comes up."

Dragging my younger brother by the sleeve to motivate function in his own feet, we walked back through the kitchen door into the living room where Mom sat waiting. Instantly, my anger flared.

"_You__haven__'__t__told__him__?_" I practically hissed, darting my eyes to make sure it was only direct family in the room.

"He's not ready! Besides, the two of you will be off to school in no time before he figures anything out." Mom kind of huffed.

"He _really_ doesn't appear to be an idiot." Sean scowled. "What's going to happen with everything comes in? Or when we have to buy school supplies? Owls? Does he even know about Alex's cat?"

"Yes, he knows about the cat!" She looked harassed by Sean's questions. "As to your things, we'll just sneak them in as they-"

"Sure, a wand can be stuffed up our sleeves easily," I interrupted, "But a broomstick will be a bit more difficult, unless you know someone who can shove it someplace else."

My eyes burning, I ran upstairs without another word to my shocked mother. Her excuses were enraging.

"Sean! Mark the map where this place is so we don't get lost." I hollered from the top of the steps. Snatching our phones from the open luggage, I hurried back downstairs straight to the door, making my way outside without a final glance.

Everything was blurry around me. I was exhausted from the flight, confused and angry. Mom is marrying this man and she hasn't told him anything. It's like she's trying to hid us, her own kids... We're already having to hide in plain sight from the world, already transferring schools and traveled to a whole 'nother country. That minor offence Mom pulled felt like the last straw.

It just didn't seem fair. Sean and I were thrown into the dark and told to keep quiet, be a good little boy and girl so everyone else around can live happily ever after.

"So Jerry doesn't know he's about to marry into a family of certified weirdos?" I fumed. Sean's footsteps could be heard behind me, catching up. Realizing I was walking blindly and on an unfamiliar street, I stopped to rub my eyes. Bringing the phone to my face, I saw both had severely cracked screens.

The pain in my wrist was proof I was gripping the simple electronics tightly, but sheer pressure from the hands of a sixteen year old girl would not have caused this extensive damage.

"Alexis, what the fuck! The hell is wrong with you?" Sean snatched his phone out of my hand for inspection.

"Jerry _really_ doesn't know." I whispered more to myself. My eyes couldn't leave the phone that sat in my clammy palm.

"So what? How is that any different from anyone else? God dammit, I need my wand to fix this. That, or you're buying me a new phone."

"Well," I ignored him, a rebellious look replacing the anger on my face. My voice changed to a lower tone, accepting a challenge, ready to fight. "If Mom doesn't explain to him, _we_ will have to. If they're getting married, we're under obligation."

I laughed out loud, my stride increasing. Sean easily kept up due to his longer legs. He eyed me as if I had gone crazy.

"Congratulations, Jerry Macintosh. You now have a witch and wizard in your family."

**A/N: Ahh****! ****First****chapter****jitters****!**

**Thank you so much for taking the time to read. I hoped you enjoy! Review as you see fit, don't be gentle. I like it rough. ;P**

I'm sorry if the words are all bunched up together... I'm trying to get it fixed. The past two nights have been hectic with editing, only to have my progress NOT show up after saving. Argh.


	2. Exposed!

**A/N: I have no ownership of the Harry Potter series. The contents of this fanfic are original properties of J.K. Rowling, excluding my own OCs.**

Since day one, Sean and I would get up when Jerry was about to leave for work. With each moment, we tried to slip up with our backgrounds, leave the last of our wizarding sweets in random locations, or talk about Quidditch. Mom always managed to squash our attempts by shooing us outside or talking over us.

Before leaving Texas, she managed to get our magic wands packed with the regular things. The painful memory of parting from my other arm made me nauseous, a rare experience for my body. It was the main reason for our anger and feelings of insecurity- we had no protection.

There were stories heard everywhere about Dark witches and wizards rising... But that's all they were. Stories. Random acts of violence would be reported in the papers back home, but the tabloids were controlled by needy, desperate journalists, willing to write anything for publicity. The students at High Pointe learned to ignore the words of our North American reporters.

And so, due to our inability of introducing Jerry to another world, Sean and I would walk outside all over the neighborhood. Within three days, we had the entire map memorized. We were tempted to walk all the way to the touristic part of London, but the time it would take in one direction would use a better part of the day, leaving none to admire the surroundings.

It wasn't long until the day arrived with the truck and our personal belongings.

I stood in the living room, watching with my white and tabby marked cat as she purred contentedly in my arms. Mysti apparently forgave me for leaving her a full week.

As two movers carried the last of our stuff upstairs, the third man who looked to be in his thirties, stopped to look at Mysti.

"You have a very unusually cat there, I hear." His voice was rich with his nation's accent. I raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? How so?" I clung her body closer to mine. The purr volume increased.

"The boys told me the cage busted open while they were unloading here from inspection. She got loose and no one could get close enough to catch her. Not until her cage was reassembled did she return. The weird part, they said, was that she jumped into the open cage on her own!" The man started laughing over the crazy story of his co workers. Jerry had shown up behind from the stairs and laughed with him. I couldn't help grinning with shared amusement.

"I wouldn't doubt it. She's very clever animal, weirdly enough."

"We look forward to the adventures she has to offer." Jerry piped in cheerily. Clapping the mover's shoulder, he asked "You know the address for Burnburry Street?" They continued their conversation fast. It was hard for my untrained ears to keep up. Stupid British accents! So hot but so hard to understand sometimes!

Bored, I walked to the kitchen with Mysti now sitting on my shoulder.

"Hey, they're done moving things up. You may wanna jump into the truck before they leave without you." I warned Mom.

"Thanks Hon. Are you kids sure you'll be fine while I'm at the other home?"

"Sure, we're just going to check and see if everything is in order and grab our wannnwalkie-talkies." Sean changed his word halfway as Jerry walked in.

"Sorry for interrupting, Sean." Jerry had an apologetic look as he nodded, clueless. Then, facing mom, " They're waiting inside the truck when you're ready. I should be by the place after work to pick you up."

"Hey, Sean and I were planning on going for a walk to that lake west of here. So if we're not back by the time you guys are, we'll certainly be on our way at the very least."

"Sounds good! Darling?" Jerry held the door open for Mom. She led the way with Jerry following close behind her. They went out of sight as the door closed. Sean and I gave each other excited looks.

"Ahhh, I want to hold my wand. I can't believe it's been a week since I've held it!" Sean was dancing around the kitchen.

"I see." I snickered, leaving the room. Sean first frowned with confusion, the scowled.

"God, Alex, you're disgusting."

Mysti purred in my ear as I laughed. My desire to skip was quickly killed as there was an angry commotion coming from the tiny hallway.

"Holy hell!" Sean exclaimed. Before us was Jerry yelling with his hands covering the top of his head as two blurs of brown and grey flew around, hooting and squawking loudly.

"What the bloody hell is going on?!" Jerry hollered. Mom just stood in front of the open front door, eyes wide.

Mysti hissed and leaped off my shoulders back towards the kitchen, leaving painful scratches on my upper back.

Huffing at the current complication, I raised my right arm and gave a short whistle. The brown bundle flew straight for me and perched on my wrist- an elegant owl stared at me with bright yellow eyes. The grey owl continued to twitter in the hallway.

"Get over here-" Sean began to jump into the air with his arms stretched up.

"Sean, you're making it worse! The poor bird is scared even more now!"

"Well if he'd just GET DOWN, he'd be less scared!" He yelled back.

"Good gosh. C'mere, little grey!" I offered my left arm as a landing point. With a distressed hoot, the bird flew just out of Sean's reach and took place on my remaining wrist.

"Really, you'll have to show them more respect." I scolded as I swung the grey to my right shoulder. Both birds looked on edge, and I wasn't sure if it was from the recent stressful flight or the smell of Mysti on me.

Realizing I was being stared at, I looked back at Jerry. His face would have been amusing had the situation not been serious. His hair was disarrayed, glasses were even more lopsided, his face nearly as red as his hair and beaded with sweat.

"Would someone like to explain what just happened." Each word was pronounced slowly.

Sean sighed. Looking at Mom, then looking at me, he said "Well, it was bound to happen."

"We don't have time." Mom hastily rummaged through her purse pointlessly, avoiding eye contact with the man standing next to her.

"She's right." I sadly admitted. My arm was starting to cramp. "We'll explain everything tonight. I promise, Jerry. But right now the movers are waiting and you're late for work."

Jerry glanced at his watch. His eyes still wide with adrenaline, confusion, and now suspicion, he took a final look at us then walked out without a word.

Mom stood in the doorway for just a moment more. The stress made her age lines more visible than usual.

"Are you really going to tell him everything?"

"If you're going to marry him," Sean was sounding stern. "Then yes. We like Jerry. He's a great guy, he deserves the respect to know." The truck driver honked once. Mom, nodding only slightly, finally left.

Sean exhaled heavily as he closed the door after her with relief.

"We'll keep it shut until we know the coast is clear for them." He directed to the birds.

"Good idea." I carried the two animals with us into the kitchen and placed them both on the back of a chair. The proud looking brown clicked its beak impatiently, offering the thick scroll tied to the right leg.

As I untied the letter, the grey hopped back and forth from his space on the chair. Nervous hoots were made as he eyed Mysti sitting atop the fridge.

"If you wanna get rid of that letter," I started. "You best keep still so its recipient can get it. You're jumping around like a finch."

Being compared to a twittery bird caused enough offense to earn a glare wishing me sincerest misfortune. My brown fluffed. From amusement?

"Sorry about the wait, Brownie, but you'll have to hang out another moment or two before heading out." I spoke casually. Sean was used to me having one-way conversations with animals connected to magic, so just ignored me. "We'll get you some water while things cool down, how's that?"

"I just love how they seem to know exactly where we are." Sean said with admiration. The water faucet almost drowned him out as I filled a bowl.

"I find it annoying." I sniffed. I found myself jealous that my brother had already opened his letter, and instantly wished the Grey had bit him. "It's like you have no privacy at all."

"You have only, what, three months until the Under-Age Trace is removed? That's not so bad." Sean tried to reason with me. He knew how paranoid of a person I was.

I didn't bother to correct him that becoming of age doesn't keep you from being trackable via Owl Post. I placed the dish on the table next to my scroll.

"Anything good on the list? When do we start?" I changed the subject. I began opening the scroll myself, addressed to

_Alexis Fletcher_

_365 Lovelace Ave_

_London, England._

"Looks like regular books to me." He shrugged. Let's see..._ 'Dear Mr. Fletcher: We are please to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on September 1. We await your owl no later than July 31.'_" I watched the birds preen themselves, no longer concerned with us.

"Oh hey!" I suddenly felt excited again. "Our wands are still upstairs! Let's go get them, and grab a quill so we can reply the letters."

Sean's face lit up and we both ran up the stairs with giddy anticipation.

Our wands were extensions of a witch and wizard's body. Being without one once it has chosen its magical partner, you felt vulnerable. Helpless. A witch without purpose... It was a part of you like an arm, a leg or a neck. You can NOT function normally without one.

Each of us hurried to our own trunks- Sean to his stained pine, myself to the cedar chest.

I tapped the right front corner three times with my finger gently. A one by two inch compartment was revealed, showing a key inside. I felt I was moving too slowly. I couldn't grab my key quickly enough, nor could I insert it into the keyhole sooner.

On top of my collection of school books, scales and broken quills, was a forest green felt cloth. Unraveling the soft fabric, my wand fell into my hands.

The touch was warm, like embracing a long lost friend. My eyes closed, I felt I was breathing correctly for the first time in what felt like eternity. Everything that had happened seemed silly now, comical and adventurous. I was at peace with the world at last.

"So." Jerry started when we all sat at the kitchen table that evening. The mood was an interesting combination of awkwardness and eager anticipation. "Please explain to me why there were nighttime birds of prey flying around my living room in the middle of morning. Explain what you have been hiding from me up to this point from day one. Something is going on, I'm not stupid. What's happening under the roof of my home that I have openly invited to you?" It sounded like he'd been practicing that all day.

Sean and I shared a glance. We had been waiting for this moment, but did not know how to proceed anymore.

"Well," I began slowly." We've been trying to figure out how to explain, however there's no easy method since at this time we can't offer much proof."

Jerry's eyebrows rose. "You've lost me."

"We can do magic." Sean began. "Alex is a witch, I'm a wizard. We've been practicing magic since we each turned eleven years old. We were taught each year ever since, at a school called High Pointe Rocky Academy that's located in the Rocky Mountains of Canada. Now, since we're across the Atlantic Ocean and residing in jolly ol' London, our new school is Hogwarts of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

"Waitwaitwait. Witches? Wizards? What sort of joke is this?"

"It's no joke." Mom said quietly. "Kenneth and I both didn't believe it at first either when we got the letters. But a representative, the principle of the school, arrived himself to prove that that society does indeed exist."

Jerry stared for only a moment. Rubbing his hand on his face then through his hair, the man gave a feeble laugh.

"I can't believe I'm hearing this..." Making eye contact with me, he then asked "So pretty much anyone can be, well, do magic?"

"No," I gently shook my head. "Usually, wizards are born from wizarding families. Every now and then, they're born from Muggle parents. Although this is uncommon, it's far from unheard of."

"I- What? Did you say puggle?"

"Muggle. Someone who can't cast magic." Sean explained briefly. Another pause from everyone while Jerry thought.

"It would have been easier to believe if you said you were drug dealers. Or, or were circus performers... Ok, say I agree to this cock-and-bull story. What's to be done for me to really believe? Is there any proof you can provide? A staff or toad or something?" His arms crossed. It was evident Jerry was losing patience.

"We have wands," I suggested. "However, we can't perform magic. More like not allowed to. We're not suppose to practice magic outside of school until the legal age of adulthood. In our world, that's seventeen."

"But we can go get them! Since you're non-magical, you're not allowed to touch it, but there's still nothing wrong with looking."

"We'll scrounge around some more for- Oh! Sean! Do you still have your sneakoscope? And our brooms, they automatically use magic, so he can check those out, too."

"I'll help you kids carry-" Mom began to stand up.

"No, I think it'd be best you stayed here for now." I did my best to not glare. "You are, after all, the one who insisted on us keeping quiet about it. Sean and I wanted to tell him from the start."

"Use this time to explain why the truth would have been too much for you to share about your two freak kids." Sean snorted and lead the way out.

"That is absolutely not fair for you to say that-"

"Mom." I said quietly. "If we were going to be that much of a hassle, Sean and I could have easily stayed with friends for the remaining summer and holidays. Bringing us along meant you were accepting responsibility for whatever might come our way. So please, have a talk with Jerry. He deserves that much. We'll give about ten minutes I guess, so you can get the basics out of the way."

When I left the kitchen, Sean was already out of sight. Arriving in our shared room, I gave a low whistle.

"Oooh, that was nice and harsh! I'm both shocked and impressed!"

"Can you blame us? Jerry was thrown into this with any options otherwise, same for us. Treating us like we're something to be ashamed of- by our own mother, nonetheless!- is something I refuse to stomach." Sean pulled out his wand and twirled it.

I gave a heavy sigh. "You and I both know that Mom loves us. She really does. All this change is putting a lot of stress on her too, and I'm sure she's trying to protect everyone. It's just... It seems like she's trying too hard, trying to shoulder everything at once in an attempt to keep us safe. Yet it keeps backfiring..."

"I didn't think of it that way," Sean admitted with an uncomfortable, guilty expression. Looking away from me, he was back to digging in his trunk.

"That's why I'm here," I smiled slightly. "I really doubt Mom would do a complete one-eighty on us. She's probably as confused as we are." Taking a seat on the futon, Mysti immediately jumped into my lap.

"Cat, I need my lap! Unless you plan on functioning as my desk?"

"Desk? What is it that you're planning on doing?" Sean asked.

"I was going to start writing to Liz since I gave Mom and Jerry about ten minutes to chat. Would you by chance have some candy left in there? Not for myself, but to share with Jerry."

"If I do," His voice was muffled. "The rest of them are either real old, melted, or squished in general." He pulled up a brown gooey wad by what looked like a strand of hair attached to it.

"Oh shit, gross! Get rid of that!" I gagged as Sean pretended to throw it at me.

"Chill," He laughed. It was nice to see him act normal. I've missed my crazy, weird brother this summer. He tossed it back into the trunk (Ew) as I grabbed paper and a quill.

Elizabeth was my BFF. She was an extremely outgoing girl who seemed to be talented in everything she tried. Due to her shining presence, I was usually overshadowed. Which was totally cool for me and my naturally introverted personality. We had what appeared to be an usual friendship seeing as we were practically opposites. She excelled in her studies, I had mediocre grades (except for Potions, in which I always kicked her butt). Liz reveled in crowds, I happily sat in a quiet corner in the library or my dorm. The only thing we seemed to have in common was Quidditch where she was Keeper and I was Beater for our team, and that we were both from Muggle families. Our personalities balanced each other out, she was the Yin to my Yang. My bestie.

The letter I wrote covered from when we last said our goodbyes, up to the very present. Running out of ink, I decided to finish the letter until we managed to make a trip to a wizarding shop.

Giving a lonely sigh, I rolled up the paper for later.

"Do you think Jerry will still want to marry Mom after all this?" Sean asked when he noticed I was done.

"I don't know." I felt cold all of a sudden. "I've been trying to not think about it, but I suppose today is the ultimatum."

Biting the nails on my right hand, a habit I had had for as long as I could remember, I placed my items on the floor. "What time is it?"

"I dunno, I don't have a clock."

"Damn, because mine's missing... You think we should head back down? I'm sure it took several minutes for me to write that letter."

"Yeah, let's get this out of the way." Sean already had his broom and sneakoscope sitting out.

Getting onto my knees, I reached under the futon to pull out my own broomstick. I felt the handle vibrate just slightly with energy, as if eager to go out into the sky again. I've never wanted to fly so badly before in my life. Soon. I thought. We'll fly again soon...

Wand in one hand and broom in another, we made our way downstairs to the kitchen. The voices inside were low and quiet. When I knocked, the talking stopped immediately followed by Mom's invitation.

"Come in," I nervously poked my head through the door. The two of them were holding hands, Jerry's eyes were wide. At least he doesn't look angry anymore.

"Neither of us have a way to tell time, so we weren't sure whether it was safe to return or not," I answered sheepishly so as to make them less inclined to feel I interrupted their conversation.

"Sure," Mom waved me over. Nodding slightly, I awkwardly walked into the room with my belongings. Jerry started to laugh.

"I still think 'drug dealers' would be more believable."

"Trust me, you won't want to pass this up." I smiled. "Not many Muggles get this opportunity."

"So if I'm a Muggle, is there a special term for you? I mean, besides just 'witch' or 'wizard'."

"Yep! Sean and I are Mudbloods!" My brother gave a loud burst of laughed at my enthusiasm.

"Alexis!" Mom scowled at me. Jerry looked more confused.

"I think I'm missing something..."

"Mudblood," Sean began explaining as he placed his sneakoscope on the table, "is a term used for Muggle-born witches and wizards. An insult, more like. Those from so-called 'pure-blood' families tend to think of themselves above everyone else. We're dirty blood. In America, there really isn't a lot of that kind of prejudice. We heard from our school principal that the Old Land- Here, the U.K.- is much more old fashioned and tend to not refrain themselves."

"You never told me a thing about that." Oops, looks like we forgot to tell Mom.

"Don't worry. Your little Texans will be perfectly fine." I couldn't stop giggling from the image in my head of me and Sean in cowboy suits. "As long as you'll let me take a shotgun, I doubt they'll bother with me.

"Now!" I clapped my hands and changed the subject. "Demonstrations! Let's start on the first thing you requested, our wands." Seand and I held out our wands for Jerry to see, but not touch.

"Each wand is different, much like people, to match its owner. They say the wands choose their owner, but I don't think they know how that even works. For example, my wand is fourteen-and-a-half inches long, made of cherry wood, very flexible, and it holds one strand of unicorn hair in the core."

Jerry's face showed the strongest desire to talk, but refrained himself. I was grateful, since I didn't want to explain about magical creatures yet.

"Mine is made of oak, so it's really strong. Fifteen inches with a dragon heartstring."

"Dragons?"

"Yes, dragons. And unicorns. All those stories with magical, mythical creatures? Most of them are true.

"This here, on the table, is my sneakoscope. It's a cheap lie-detector, pretty much. If someone is lying or not trustworthy, it'll go off real loud.

"And here's the best part of the evening." Sean continued. He now had a malicious grin on his face. "Our broomsticks. They are actual tools for transportation, but not a first choice. Usually it's for sports. This here is the only form of magic we can demonstrate since we are not the ones actually doing it."

"Just be careful..." Mom again.

"Oh Mom, we've been dealing with brooms for at least five years. We'll be fine."

"Let me show you, Jerry." I held out my still fairly new Skyrider broom in front of me at waist height. When I released the handle, it continued to stay floating in the air. Jerry gave a gasp.

"No way in bloody hell!"

"Come on over! Check it out for yourself that there are no strings, no nothin'."

"N-no, I'm fine. I don't think I could stand if I-" Jerry's voice was cut short as I felt a sharp hit on my shoulder.

"Ow! What the-" Behind me, Sean was floating on his broomstick already. His head was barely touching the ceiling.

"Sean! Get down- you don't have to give the poor guy a damn heart attack!" I grabbed his ankle and tried to pull him down.

"What?" Sean laughed with glee. "It's been forever since I've been on this thing. Pity we're not outside..."

"You're just showing off."

"Wellllll it's fun. And you know it. Admit it, you've been itching to play some Quidditch too!"

"Sean Matthew, we are inside. Get down right now!" Mom was back in control.

"Shaking my head at the sudden chaos, I checked Jerry. His face was pale, sweating and breathing heavily.

"I... I don't believe what I'm seeing or hearing-" he stuttered. _**WHIIIIRRRRRRRRRR**_Jerry jumped about a foot into the air as the sneakoscope spun like a top and flashed.

"Stupid piece of shit, don't do that now." Sean was back on his feet and grabbed the item, stuffing it under his shirt in an attempt to mute it.

"We'll take everything upstairs now," I said hesitantly.

"Yes, please do so." Mom was sounding annoyed now. She got up and walked to the pantry, appearing to start the process of making tea.

"Just please consider this, Jerry." I began quietly. "You don't have to like it, just accept it. Believe it. This is who we are. Mom has been having to deal with this alone for five years now, this will be the sixth year. I'm going to graduate this year, Sean will have one more year after this before his education is complete. Mom needs- No, she deserves to have some normalcy in life. You won't have to deal with us for long. Just please try and see the bigger picture, of everything that has happened and will happen."

Grabbing my broom from mid-air and stuffing the wand into my back pocket, I left the room wondering if we might have made things better or worse.

**A/N: It's still moving slowly. I know. T_T But stick around! Next chapter you'll start to recognize some old characters! 3**


	3. The Dark Duo and the Sorting Hat

**A/N: I have no ownership of the Harry Potter series. The contents of this fanfic are original properties of J.K. Rowling, excluding my own OCs.**

* * *

"Okay. It's ten o'clock now." I said as Sean and I entered the already busy streets of Diagon Alley. "Hopefully we can get most of our shopping done before the noon rush and meet that lady back here at the Leaky Cauldron. I guess for now we can stick together unless we're crunching for time. If that's the case, we'll split up."

"Oh, nice thinking. At least we don't have to stop at Gringotts." Sean trailed off as he began to stare longingly through the windows of a nearby Quidditch shop.

"We'll stop in there if we have the time," I said absentmindedly as I pulled out our list of school supplies. I was feeling pretty anxious in this new, crowded area. "Let's head to the Apothecary first, and finish with books since those will be the heaviest."

"I'm not looking forward to _uniforms_." Sean had the look of a sick child as we started down the street. I frowned in agreement.

"It does suck. But hopefully it'll keep us from standing out too much-" I finished as a fellow consumer walked a little too close for comfort when we stepped into the apothecary shop.

"Stop hiding and being such a scaredy-cat to new people and new things. For once, make yourself known, seen, heard! You're too eager to stay in the dark." Sean spoke with genuine concern to my surprise.

"I'm fine, Sean. I happen to like my dark space. It's peaceful and quiet, it allows me to think." I laughed, nudging him softly. "Besides, it's not like it's cold and depressing. I keep it cozy and warm with a pretty lamp and lots of blankets."

"I don't think we're on the same page anymore."

We stopped at Madam Malkin's for our robes (a very sweet old but chatty woman ran the shop), as well as the Owlery where I delivered my letter to Liz (overseas was expensive!). Sean considered taking home a beautiful Tawny, but we decided now wasn't the best time due to Jerry's uneasiness with our lifestyle. He still cared for Mom and wanted to be with her, we didn't want to push it.

Seeing as an hour had not even gone by, we decided to treat ourselves to some ice cream at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour.

"What's next on the list?" Sean demanded with a mouthful of vanilla ice cream and cherry bits, dropping both of our bags on one of the chairs between us. We had chosen a table outside that was closer to the street.

"Pig, don't spit on our papers." I stuck out my tongue to show I was only teasing. "Let's see here..."

I was listing off the remainder of our supplies. The sun on my shoulder clashed wonderfully with my mint chocolate chip ice cream. The people in the street bartered and sold, an owl silently flew above us in the warm air. I felt content and relaxed in my real world.

At least, I did until the chair with our new belongings was harshly knocked over as a body toppled over it.

"Oi!" A deep voice was heard by a tall, dark-haired guy, looking to be our age, who was standing next to our table. He was addressing his fallen comrade while a shorter, stockier boy with sandy-blonde hair began laughing. His voice gave me sudden chills that disappeared just a quickly.

"Oh shhh- I am so sorry!" I was in shock at the abrupt drama. My happy bubble of peace had just been popped. "Here, lemme help-"

"Nah, it's good." The third boy had dark hair as well, though not quite as black as Mr. Tall. He was sitting on his rear, arms propped on my knees. Dirt covered every part of his green shirt and jeans, his barely visible palms appeared rubbed raw, and one of our bags of beetle eyes had spilled all over the ground and onto him. It looked as if someone had thrown glitter onto his head.

"Uh, you have bug parts all in your hair..." My voice disappeared when I got onto my knees to his level. His dark blue eyes looked bemused as I hesitated between wiping the beetle eyes out of his bangs or looking to his hands. Choosing the slightly less intimate route, I motioned to his hands.

"I'm sorry. At the very least, can I fix your hands?" I offered another apology.

"Are you qualified for such an act?" He offered me his hands anyway with a grin. I replied with a shy smile.

"As many injuries as I've assisted with on my Quidditch team, I consider myself a pro." With a wave of my wand and a mutter of a spell, I cleaned his palms. Reaching into my purse, I pulled out an ointment that I never bothered to remove.

"Thank God I had this. Never underestimate the contents of a woman's purse." I joked as I applied the cream thinly to his lightly exposed flesh. "This isn't anything serious, so it should be fine within the hour."

"Quidditch!"" His eyes lit up, apparently oblivious to the last 20 seconds of my rambling. "You play? What posit-"

"C'mon Zach, don't start with the Twenty-One Questions." Mr. Tall roughed up the guy's hair, scattering the little beetle eyes around like water droplets.

"Hey!" Zach swatted his friend's hand. In one swift movement, he stood up and began patting at his jeans.

"That's a lot of beetle eyes. I can help cover for what was lost."

"No, don't worry about it." I waved my hand to dismiss him, to my surprise. I got to my own feet and pulled the chair back up, staring at the broken bags as they laid on the ground.

"You sure? It would be no trouble on my behalf..." His persistence in honorable manners was charming and annoying. The short one just rolled his eyes.

"Like I said, it's cool. I can clean it up back home._" It's not like we have anything better to do for the rest of the summer..._ I held back a frustrated laugh at the prospect of another month stuck with Mom and Jerry, separated from magic again.

Zoning back to earth, the trio were already leaving. Mr. Tall had Zach in a playful headlock as Short-and-Stout lead the way.

"What, no good byes?" I said more to myself. Realizing my brother was still here, I gave him a side glance. his legs were crossed (the manly way, with his ankle resting on a knee), his arms crossed too, and with a slight frown.

"I thought you'd be a little more happy with my attempt at socializing, you look like I committed treason or something. Yikes.

"Do I? Sorry, I guess I got a bad feeling from that group."

"They seemed ok to me except for that blondish guy." I shrugged. I repaired the bag for the eyes, but couldn't manage to collect all the spilled contents without including the dirt.

"I don't think this'll be the last time we see them, I suspect they're Hogwarts students too." Sean casually waved his wand and kept most of the dust out of our beetle supplies as it flew back into the repaired sack. Sean had always been considerably better than me with Charms and Transfiguration, something I admired him for and was extremely jealous of.

"Speaking of Hogwarts, what the hell kind of name is that?"

"Huh. Good question. let's see if the bookstore has anything about that place. I'm fairly certain something would be published about an old castle."

Several more shops later, looking at the shelves at Flourish and Blotts, it turned out there were _many_ books on the subject of Hogwarts.

"This place must have one hell of a past..." I said to the endless books in front of me.

"Indeed it does! Over ten centuries have constructed our beloved Hogwarts to one of the most renowned schools."

I stared at the inanimate objects, thinking they spoke back to me (I wasn't going to put it past this realm). But then I quickly realized the female Scottish voice came from a small woman who was standing to my right.

She looked to be in her early thirties, her blonde hair looked poofed and dyed. This lines were visible around her grey eyes and worried looking forehead.

"Really?" Immediately embarrassed at being caught having a one-way conversation with the books, I clasped my hands behind my back and picked at my nails. "So uh, which book would you recommend for a newbie? This is going to be my first and final year here, and I gotta say that no one has made much sense about the place..."

The woman's eyes widened with surprise. "So you're one of the new students! From the States, right?"

"Uhh... I- I'm sorry, how did you..." I stammered.

"I'm sorry, a proper introduction: I'm Claire LeVine. A professor for Defence Against the Dark Arts." She offered her hand to shake.

"Oh!" I shook her hand in return. Shoot, she just heard me curse at the books. "Oh, well, it's great to meet a professor finally. I'm Alexis Fletcher." Duh, she probably knew that already. "My brother Sean should be around here somewhere."

"A pleasure." Her face seemed so much prettier and younger when she had a real smile. "Now, as to a recommendation, a good one would be _Hogwarts, A History_. Covers its origins, though slightly outdated since the past ten or twenty years have not been added to that series."

"That's fine. I just need a basic idea of what I'm getting into."

"Then it will work perfectly." Suddenly looking distracted, her eyes narrowed and she pulled at her earlobe. "I really wish we could have chatted more, but I'm kind of here on business, and really must get back..."

"Oh no no, don't let me keep you! You already have been a great help, so thank you."

"Any time." She smiled again. "I'll see you in my class in a month, Miss Fletcher. Take care." And with that, she disappeared around the corner of shelves, her black cloak trailing her silently.

_At least one of the teachers is cool. Dunno, she might be a complete nutcase in the classroom..._ My grin left as soon as I saw how thick of a book _Hogwarts, A History_ was.

Once I had collected the books I wanted for free reading time, I stood in line, Apparently Sean and I were not the only ones shopping for school.

"Hey." Sean arrived next to me empty handed. His eyebrows raised at my stack. "Damn, nerd. How many are you getting."

"Only three," I ignored his intended insult. "One is for the both of us about Hogwarts. These others are about the botany and zoology of magical plants and creatures. _This_ one I'm getting on major discount because it's so battered, see?" I waved the nearly destroyed heavy brown book under his nose. "I think something ate it then proceeded to throw it back up."

Our turn came up, and we both presented our list of required books.

"Ah, more students I see!" Wait right here, I just ran out of our stock behind this counter, I'll need to make a run to the back, so if you could please excuse me..." The old man, who I presumed to be one of the owners, left us at the desk and disappeared through a large door behind the counter.

My books were getting heavy in my arms, so I dropped them onto the old, sturdy counter. Sighing with relief,, I laid my arms on the stack and then placed my head on top.

Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath. The scent of books- new and old alike- mixed with stale sweat caused from the summer heat and the ancient bookshelves. The hustle and bustle of customers created a steady white noise around me. Drifting, I began to wonder if this new school wasn't going to be nearly as bad as my biased mind had predicted.

A presence was felt nearby, their cloak rustling. I groggily opened my eyes to see who decided to cut in line. Blinking once, twice, my vision focused on the figures of two tall, mean looking men. Both were built like gorillas, with grunty looking faces to complete the theme. Sean had his back turned to them, so he wasn't aware of their proximity as he picked at a loose thread on his shirt.

"Flourish! A word!" One of them hollered out. Sean jumped and spun to see the new visitors. The entire store silenced at his threatening tone before continuing with its mindless commotion..

"I- I think he's in the back, getting our... our..." My usually brave brother stammered into silence as he received a glare from the Dark Duo that would make a giant cower. "Nevermind."

Turning his back to them, his eyes were wide with fear and confusion at their behavior. I only shrugged and stared at my hands. I had to resist being my usual passive aggressive self since a rebellious glare at them for being jerks would be my last act on earth, I was sure.

"If you could please stand in line and wait your turn, Mr. Crabbe." The old man returned with a cart full of a variety of books. "I am currently with other customers."

"Did it come in?" The other one demanded. Mr. Flourish gave him a long, cold look.

"Indeed, Mr. Goyle, you're package arrived earlier this morning, as I've told you it would weeks ago. Now, if you will wait at the end of the line like everyone else, I'll send an assistant so it will be ready for you." Then as he reached onto the cart to add to our stack, he added, "you should know after all these years I will not pretend an act of favoritism like your other puppets."

Crabbe made motion to grab his wand from inside his robe. In a matter of seconds, Sean and I went to a dueling stance. Shadows shifted around us in corners, but no one else seemed to have noticed- it was as if the store was waiting for this moment.

Goyle stopped his friend's arm from moving far, shaking his head.

"Don't be dense." Goyle gave a final glare to the bookkeeper and pulled his companion to the back of the line. The already waiting, and now skittish, customers shrunk away from the pair as if they were carriers of a horrible disease.

"You don't have to worry about a thing," Mr. Flourish offered a sad smile of reassurance. "Those two are just bullies. They won't be causing any serious trouble while inside, there's too many eyes."

"So I _did_ see shadows move... Were they actual persons?" My eyes narrowed, suspicious and paranoid again at everyone around me. My neck felt like it was getting a kink from being stress with adrenaline.

"There's no need to worry, everything is under control. Are you wishing to buy those books, as well?"

The purchase was made and we high-tailed it out of there without a second glance at the Dark Duo.

Outside, I gasped. The noon-time sun warmed my face, chasing the fear from my mind and chest. I hadn't realized how stuffy it turned indoors, I felt like a deer caught in headlights. In shock, I dropped my bags to the right and leaned against the cool stone of Madam Malkin's shop.

"Fucking. Shit." Sean couldn't say anything more. All I could do was nod in agreement.

We stood there for several minutes, trying to recollect our wits. Something happened. None of it made sense, but it felt as if whatever we were involved with was about to reach its climax.

"I _really_ hope there's nothing like that at Hogwarts." I finally spoke.

"Knock on wood," Sean tapped his forehead with his knuckles, making me chuckle.

"Let's head back to the Leaky Cauldron." I picked up my bags by their straps, wishing they were backpacks. "Ms.- Oh wait, Professor, McGonagall is probably waiting on us now, and I'd rather not get caught in the middle of whatever is going down-"

No sooner had I said those words and took a step back onto the street, there was an explosion that shattered the bookshop windows.

"Alex!" Sean pulled out his wand.

Air was knocked out of my lungs as an impact of ten bludgers hit me from behind. My belongings scattered for the second time when I collapsed from the weight on top of me.

"Bloody hell, you stupid cunt!" Crabbe's voice came from on top of me.

"Seize them! Stop!" More voices were yelling from around, children screaming from fright.

"Hey-" As I struggled to regain the function of my breathing, I heard Sean advanced towards us. A flash of red, and I watched my brother get blasted off his feet.

"Fuckers," I managed to choke. Goyle's large feet came into view, snatching a worn brown book from the middle of my things.

"Let's go, come on! Get up!" He pulled at Crabbe, who scrambled to his feet. Stepping on my ankle in the process, I gasped at the sharp pain that added to my already sore and throbbing head and airless chest. I tried to hurry to my knees with shaky limbs as Crabbe and Goyle ran down the cobbled streets.

"Sean-"

"You got the-?" I heard one of the men pant.

"YES I've got it, now MOVE." Just before they ran out of sight past Gringotts, there was a 'pop' that confirmed their Disapperation.

My brother was laying still on his back when someone touched my shoulder ("Madam, are you alright?). I could only respond with a flinch and swatted the foreign hand away. I crawled as quickly as I could to Sean. To my relief, he was conscious. No visible injuries, but severely dazed.

"Oh God, Sean-" I held back a sob, and instead sat down. I was scared to touch him in case he crumbled into a million pieces.

"I'm fine," He mumbled. "Just a little sore. Are _you_ okay? That guy crashed into you pretty hard."

"Shaken and stepped on, but whole." I rubbed my watery eyes. I only succeeded getting dirt in them.

Glass sparkled on the street innocently as people from nearby shops trickled out to see what the pandemonium was. Professor LeVine could be seen giving orders for control.

I wanted to go home.

"Rest here for a moment. I'm getting our things then we're getting the hell outta here."

Using the closest wall as a prop, I managed to get onto my feet and limped to the robes, books, quills, those damn beetles again, and other wizarding accessories that scattered on the street. I bent down to pick up the closest robe, only to have it fly off.

"Alright, who-" I've had enough. Wand back out, I was ready to curse the person who dared to mess with me and my brother again.

A strict looking, much older woman with dark graying hair had her wand in one hand, and one of my bags- now full of supplies and my recently airborne robe- in the other.

"Th-thank you."

"You should take a seat before further damaging your leg."

"I'll be fine," I shook my head impatiently. "I have someplace to be, but thanks-"

"You're Alexis Fletcher?" The woman inclined her head as if to inspect me.

"I, I uh." Surprised at my own name being said, I was spared from a proper response. A gangly girl with curly reddish-blonde hair ran up to the woman.

"Professor McGonagall! What happened? We heard a bang from around the block-"

"Just some troublemakers, Miss Dempsey. Since you're here, do me a favor and escort Miss Fletcher and her belongings to the Leaky Cauldron. Mrs. Longbottom will know what to do."

"Um, sure thing, professor." The Irish accented girl took my bag that Professor McGonagall offered her, and faced me. "So, erm, ready?"

"Hang on, I have my books to grab, and my brother-"

"Accio books." My newly appointed accompaniment summoned the remaining books into my other bag. Then she grinned. "I just turned seventeen yesterday. I hope you don't mind I magicked them?"

"Not at all. Spares me from extra walking." I winced when I put pressure on my injured ankle. I looked at my brother to see that McGonagall was already tending to him. "I guess since she's looking after him, I might as well get to the pub..."

"So what happened?" her eyes were wide at the state we were in.

"I'm not even sure." We began our walk to the Leaky Cauldron. "These two guys were picking something up from Flourish and Blotts. I guess they did something really wrong because almost right after Sean and I left, they came barrelling out and crashed right into me while disarming my brother to get him out of the way. They took off with a book, though they looked like they would be the last people on earth who would freakin read." I stopped myself and looked at the girl. Her eyes looked even wider. "I'm sorry, I'm generally not so judgemental, but they were jerks in the shop, attacked my brother, and nearly broke my ankle. I'm not in the best of moods at the moment."

"I imagine so! I can't believe you were caught in the middle of that. There were a bunch of Aurors and professors. I wonder if it has anything to do with You-Know-Who..."

"Oh yeah, he originated from here, huh? I can't believe I never realized that. Lucky me... But what would he want from a friggin book of all things?"

"Hm, good point... Say, are you staying around? I mean, I saw school books that I got as well. Are you going to Hogwarts? I've never seen you before."

"Uh-huh." I nodded my head. "My seventh year. Mom's getting married with a guy from London, so my brother and I got transferred here."

We stepped into the dark pub. I couldn't see anything at first, but embraced the cool air.

"Hey, my seventh year too. Any idea what house you're in?" She gently placed my bags on the closest table and I sat down.

"Nope. I think that's why Sean and I are suppose to meet Professor McGonagall, to be 'sorted.' What exactly is that suppose to mean?"

"Ok, the four Houses." The girl whose first name was still a mystery to me sat across from me.  
"You go into each house according to your strongest traits. If you're brave and chivalric, you're in the Gryffindor House. If you're honorable and fair, Hufflepuff. Resourcefulness and ambition is valued in the House of Slytherin, and intelligence and wit belong to Ravenclaw. My House." She added with pride.

Feeling this sort of separation sounded more trouble than it was worth, I rubbed my forehead and asked "Is there some kind of test we're taking or something?"

"Something like that." She grinned but didn't say more on the subject. "I'll go get Mrs. Longbottom and see if she can look at your ankle before McGonagall returns."

The girl ran upstairs to look for the landlady, stomping loudly to the disapproval of the dining guests. Being alone, I was left to think about the past thirty minutes- no, it's only been about five minutes- and Sean. I couldn't stop worrying. It seemed like a heavy stone sat in my stomach. I felt cheap for leaving my brother in the street. He's with a teacher, he'll be fine. I restlessly drummed the table. Sighed. Kept drumming. Looked at my watch, only twenty seconds had passed. Huh. Ok, time for a book then. I was in the motion of grabbing the old botany book when McGonagall and Sean walked in.

Sean was steady on his feet. Looking completely fine and at ease, he had the balls to have a mischievous grin.

"Hello sister sibling!"

"Sean!" I was so happy to see him normal. I ignored my screaming ankle and ran (more like hobbled) up to him with a tackle hug.

"Geez, it's not like I died or anything."

My stomach dropped. "You didn't see yourself fly off. I couldn't help at all-"

"You're always trying to look after me. So try to hold back your pride and let others look after you, kay?"

"Mmkay." I answered sheepishly as my brother helped me to my seat.

"Goodness Minerva, what happened?" A blonde woman came down the stairs with the girl close behind.

"Just some boys disturbing the peace." The professor said casually.

"No one got seriously hurt, did they?"

"Other than Mr. Flourish being hit in the face and Miss Fletcher's ankle," McGonagall nodded towards me. "Everyone is fine."

"Yes, I heard about our guest." She eyed me anxiously. "Let me look at that leg of yours. Cara, could you run and make us a few mugs of butterbeer? Goodness knows we could use a few."

"Sure thing!" Cara Dempsey disappeared again.

"Now," McGonagall began as Mrs. Longbottom inspected my swollen ankle. "We can rest for a moment before your Sorting, but I would like to stress the importance of not speaking what you have just witnessed. Those are Dark wizards whose paths you crossed. We don't want to risk further conflict."

"Of course." I'd rather not get another round with those two thugs.

"There!" Mrs. Longbottom stood up and shook out her dress. "You should be completely fine now, but I would recommend keeping off that leg to help the swelling go down."

"Thank you so much." I grinned as Cara returned with five butterbeers. "I feel as if we've only gotten in the way since we got here, I really appreciate your help."

"Child, don't worry about it! This is the least we could do after that at horrible welcoming."

As we drank our butterbeers, McGonagall inquired about Mrs. Longbottom's husband. Cara sat to my right while Sean was sitting to my left.

"Move, Alex." My brother demanded. "So," Sean asked, almost whispering, to Cara. "Got any hints for us in this test we gotta take?"

"Just have an open mind." Cara grinned secretly.

"She was just telling me the different characteristics of each house that a person is chosen for. I have an idea which one you'll be in." I casually mentioned as I took another drink.

"Really? Which one?" Sean was sounding excited.

"The Dingleberry House. Because that's exactly what you are, Sean" That led to a minor argument, much to Cara's amusement.

It didn't take long for us to finish our beverages.

"Mister and Miss Fletcher, are you two feeling well enough to continue with the sorting?"

"Yeah, Let's get this over with." Sean hopped out of his seat. I normally would have been nervous, but after today's events, I didn't give a rat's ass.

"Very well. Thank you for your help, Cara." McGonagall dismissed the girl.

"Any time! It was nice meeting you two! I'll see you on the train!" Cara waved her hand and left through the door back to Diagon Alley.

"This way then, please. Everything is set, Hannah?"

"Yes, I left it propped on the chair in there. Up you go! Oh don't look so worried, the test won't hurt, you know." Mrs. Longbottom shooed me and Sean up the stairs after McGonagall.

The professor stopped at the first door to the right and allowed the two of us to walk in before her. Inside looked like a typical Bed and Breakfast sort of room, containing a bed, a dresser with a vanity mirror, a small desk and a chair.

The chair, though, was placed near the foot of the bed. A new looking box sat on the chair, curiously enough.

Closing the door behind us, McGonagall walked to the chair, opened the box, and pulled out a tattered looking hat.

"Sorting," She began. "Is generally treated as a ceremony. The beginning students are issued to the houses according to their strongest, most valued traits- bravery, wit, cunning, and fairness. Each House has a common room for dormitories that only member of that specific House are allowed to enter, and you earn or lose points according to how well or poorly you act and participate.

"Because you are starting your next years here, we deemed it better that you don't be sorted with the eleven year olds. No doubt it would confuse the lot and prove to just be humiliating for you, so Professor Dumbledore chose this course.

"Mr. Fletcher, please take a seat, and this hat will inform us which house you belong."

"Uh..." Sean had a blank stare, confused at her request. I was sure I had the same look on my face.

He walked to the chair and took a seat, McGonagall gently set the hat on his head. Nothing was happened. His eyes was covered, so I couldn't watch his reaction. Geez, imagine all the heads, all the hair that hat has touched. Lice! Eeks!

"You, m'boy, belong in Gryffindor!" The hat's mouth opened at the brim to make its announcement. My own jaw dropped.

"Woah." Sean had no other words. McGonagall went ahead and picked up the hat.

"How old is that hat?" I asked with wonder. I was already making my way to the chair, eager to hear where I would be placed.

"I am as old as the founders themselves, straight off of Godric Gryffindor's head!" The hat answered.

"Huh." No wonder it looked so beat up and had patches. It's amazing its magic was still working after ten centuries. Taking a seat, nerves began to kick in again and I bounced my knee.

The hat was dropped onto my head, blocking my sight and my hearing. I closed my eyes.

_"Now now. Where shall I place you, Alexis Fletcher?_" The voice said into my ears.

"Uh..."

"_You certainly have hunger for learning, yet somehow lack the ambition...? Pity, because you would be quite great. Best place for you then is_ Ravenclaw."

_The witty, smart house?_ I thought to myself once the hat was removed._ Does sarcastic smart-ass count as fitting in?_

"We're not in the same house." Sean gave a slight pout. I returned a sad smile.

"Sometimes, it is for the best." McGonagall suggested. "Family members can occasionally be unbearable, which is hard to deal with when you're sharing the same common room. Gryffindors and Ravenclaws get along quite well, so the two of you will be fine."

"Get along? Which houses, then, _don't_ get along?" I was curious.

"The strongest rivalry is between Gryffindor and Slytherin. The Slytherin's method of achieving their goals by any mean necessary tends to clash with Gryffindor's glorification." She explained as she placed the hat (which was now humming to itself) back into the box. "Gryffindor and Slytherin are devoted rivals, especially when Quidditch is involved."

"Goodness. I'm even more grateful for not being placed in Slytherin. Sibling rivalry is one thing, but to have an army at my back? That's too tempting."

After receiving instructions on how to reach the train in King's Cross station, Sean and I were allowed to leave for the Muggle side of London.

The busy street's ear splitting noises and odors harassed my senses. No wonder a large part of the wizarding world don't like Muggles- They're ridiculously loud.

"We should probably not tell Mom about the attack at the bookstore. She'll shit bricks."

"Yeeeeeah I was thinking the same thing. But hey! We finally know what the sorting was all about! So we know where we're placed, all we have left is getting there. And Quidditch!" Sean didn't seem to be able to contain himself.

"True." I smiled. Cara said she was in Ravenclaw... Good. I'll have someone I can cling to for the first few weeks. "I guess Hogwarts won't be too bad."

* * *

**Woo! Finally, some people that you know! And the real adventure begins! Lemme know if you see something that needs improvement on. :)**

**I have a confession: The reason these chapters are being uploaded so quickly is because they're already written out. So don't get used to this. T_T**


	4. A Not-So-Great Start

**A/N: I have no ownership of the Harry Potter series. The contents of this fanfic are original properties of J.K. Rowling, excluding my own OCs.**

* * *

Before I knew it, it was September 1st. Everything was packed and ready to go, meaning Mom was back into tears as she and Jerry walked with us into Kings Cross Station.

"Mom, you don't have to be so upset. We're going to _school_. It's _very likely _we're coming back _alive._ I highly doubt we'll even lose a limb." I tried to console her.

"Can't promise about broken bones, though. Quidditch can be pretty brutal." Sean said in a matter-of-fact tone. I shot a glare his way.

"Nice, Sean. Like we're _totally_ not trying to worsen the situation or anything."

"Quidditch... That's the, the sport with brooms?" Jerry asked.

"Yeah. Maybe one of these days you can watch. Once you learn it, it's fun to keep up with. You'll never think of sports the same way again."

"Hm." Was all he could say. I had to give Jerry credit for trying. It's been real hard on him since everything started in the middle of his moving.

I had Mom and Sean move up ahead as I trailed behind to stay with Jerry.

"Hey..." I didn't know what to say, really. But I had to say _some_thing. Jerry gave a confused look as I anxiously picked at the paint chips on my cart handle. Mysti sat in her crate, which was stacked on top of all my personal belongings.

"I... I just want to say thanks. For everything. We kinda threw it all at you without warning, but I still appreciate you letting us stay and for sticking with mom." I watched my mom and brother as they stopped at the brick wall between platforms_ 9 _and _10_, looking around like lost birds. "I think it means more to her than it does to me or Sean."

As much as I wanted to see his reaction, I didn't turn my head to look at him. I didn't want him to feel obligated to respond.

"Sean and I talked this over last night, and we're thinking that if we're allowed to stay at school for Christmas break, we'll do so. This way you'll have more time with Mom and your own family without having to worry about explaining us or hiding our 'big secret.'"

I gave Jerry a small smile to show my attempt at being good-natured.

"I still find it hard to believe that there's real magic, especially since I can't see it." Jerry admitted with a humorous grin. Yes, progress!

"Alex! We found it! Hurry!" Sean called to me. I quickened my pace to stand next to him.

"This is the wall then?" I asked. He nodded his head eagerly.

"Well then let's head through while there is isn't a lot of by-standing Muggles." I gave Mom a tight hug. "I love you. I'll try to send owls now and then to keep you updated."

"Be safe and be careful." Mom hugged me back with no signs of letting go.

"Mom..." Sean reminded her.

"I know I know. It's just hard seeing my babies grow up, and this is Alex's last year _and_ she's about to be a legal adult-"

"We'll be fine." Sean hugged her this time. "I'll try not to annoy Alex _too_ much for you, but since we're siblings, I'm obligated to do it occasionally."

Mom laughed through her tears.

"Ladies first." Sean said when they finished, bowing and presenting the red brick pillar as if it were a gift.

"Why, thank you, good sir." I curtsied. Taking another look around to make sure no one was watching, I flashed Mom and Jerry a last smile before pushing my cart through the wall.

Darkness enveloped me for only a couple of seconds, then I saw in front a black and scarlet train with gold trim. It appeared as if they were getting the engine ready even though we still had about half an hour still.

I kept walking at a steady pace without paying attention to where I was going, entranced by the gold stenciled _Hogwarts Express_.

My negligence made me collide my cart with someone else's. Mysti's crate toppled off and cracked open the gate when it impacted the ground. My cat jumped out and hissed at me, displeased with her mistreatment.

"Oh hush, cat. You're in one piece so no harm done." Directly behind her I saw a black cat leaning forward, its rear wiggling in the Ultimate-Kitty-Pounce mode, its green eyes focused on the oblivious Mysti.

"No, bad." I scolded the black cat as I snatched up my own. As soon as Mysti was off the ground, the dark feline proceeded to clean its back leg as if it had no intention of mauling her. The stretch exposed a white streak that was the length from its neck to lower stomach.

A pair of hands picked up Mysti's opponent. I sighed with relief as I pick up my crate one handed.

"Sorry about the crash, I was totally distracted. Nothing got damaged, did it?" Shoving Mysti into her box (earning me another hiss), I looked back and saw a pair of familiar dark blue eyes.

"Oh!"

"We seem to keep bumping into each other, quite literally." It was his turn to put a cat in its crate.

"I'm sorry, again! I only seem to cause trouble-" My face felt like it was on fire. "I got so distracted with the train, I completely forgot to watch what I was doing even though I still have to wait for my brother so we can find a place for our things and to sit- Oh yeah! Sean! Shoot, I probably have to go back and-"

"It's all good," Zach laughed. "Nothing was damaged. Speaking of brother I think he's coming." He began to push his cart to one of the closer cars. "By the way, the name's Zach Fletcher. What's yours?" He asked with confidence.

"Alexis," I didn't think my face could burn any more, but it did. "Alexis Fletcher."

He gave me a brilliant smile that made me instantly forget my embarrassment. His back was turned as he walked away. "See you later, Alexis Fletcher."

I sighed and shut my eyes briefly. His smile was warming.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Sean asked, giving Zach a cautious look.

"Oh, uh, nothing." I shook my head to refocus. "What took you so long?"

"Jerry completely freaked out. He finally got to see magic and nearly had a heart attack. The look on his face was great."

"Poor guy," I couldn't help but chuckle. I stretched my arms above my head. "Well, ya think we should claim a seat and declare it as Property of America?"

"Yes, definitely." Sean nodded his head in agreement. My plan was to get a seat close to Zach, but that was quickly changed when a voice called our names.

"Alex! Sean!" We turned every which way, trying to figure out who in this area would know us by name.

Cara could be seen a little further down the line waving her hands. Her curly hair seemed to bounce with her enthusiasm.

"Hey, hi." I smiled, pushing my cart reluctantly from the place where Zach just stood.

"If you want, the two of you can sit with me and my friends, we'll have plenty of room."

"Oh uh, sure. Ok, that sounds great." At least we'll be with someone we know.

"Just follow me, I'll have Will help us move your things." she led the way through the thin crowd, taking us several cars down.

"Will! Oi! Get your goody-two-shoed arse out here!" Cara yelled at one of the open windows. A tanned face poked out.

"Holy moley Cara, what's the deal."

"We have new students, and not even first years. They're transfers," She clarified. "I invited them to share seats, so I want you to help us out."

The face disappeared and in an instant a guy wearing an orange shirt and jeans stepped out. Despite the normal clothes, a badge gleamed _HB_ on the right side of his chest.

"Transfers? Really? Well then welcome! Where are-"

"Save the formalities, we have the entire train ride for introductions." Cara bossed. I gave a shy chuckle.

"We can do it ourselves," Sean stammered as Cara and Will began to store our larger luggage into the lower compartments.

"Nah, don't worry about it. Head on up to the second room on the right," Will waved his hand.

"Let's just go," I whispered. I was feeling uncomfortable with people staring since Cara raised her voice earlier. I grabbed Mysti's cage and my backpack full of books and snacks, then headed up the steps.

As soon as I got on, a couple of what looked like second years ran past, laughing at their game of chase. Taking a deep breath, I made my way to the room that Will recently occupied. Placing the crate in one of the seats, I began shoving my backpack in the storage above us.

"Well, looks like there's no going back now." I said more to myself. I felt my throat close up. I was in desperate need of my bestie Liz. I missed the familiar train ride from New Mexico to Canada, a three-day travel with several stops to pick up more North American students.

"What do you mean?" Sean plopped onto the seat across from

"I mean we're stuck. We can't go back. It's final we _can't go home_ to our friends, to _our_ school to _our_ teachers _our_ beds-" I was panicking. The stress of this summer had finally hit me and I was starting to break down. Every breath felt constricted, suffocating. I nearly fell as I sat down in the seat closest to the window.

"Hey hey hey, it'll be fine. We may be across the ocean, but we still have family. We have each other." Sean moved to sit next to me and gave me a small hug. "I know it's not the most comforting thought," I chuckled at his words. "But this is only for a year, and not even a full year because we still have summer. We'll have to just hold tight until then, kay?"

"Mm-hmm." It was the only noise I could make as I nodded my head. The second years ran by again, giggling like maniacs.

"Unless you want detention before we've reached school, stop running in the aisle." Will's Head Boy threat warned me of his arrival, so I quickly wiped the tears from my eyes.

"I'm fine Sean, thanks." Sean quickly removed his arms from around me before Will stepped in. He was closely followed by Cara.

"Did you get sorted? What House are you in?" Cara asked immediately. I thought we had the whole train ride?

"Ravenclaw," I smiled. Pointing at Sean with my left thumb, I then said "And he's in Gryffindor."

"I knew I liked you for a reason." Will said, shaking Sean's hand. "Well, not _like_ you like you, but you know."

"A start to a romantic bromance, I'm sure." Sean replied. Cara seemed to be besides herself with giggles.

"Are we missing something?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. Cara shook her head, a huge grin plastered on her face.

"Heh, maybe another time..."

"So, what's a Head Boy?" Sean asked, pointing at Will's badge.

As they had their conversation, I poked my finger into Mysti's cage. She rubbed her face on my fingertips, purring loudly.

"Once the train starts moving, it'll be safe to take her out." Cara reassured me.

"Really?" Finally excited, I impatiently shifted in my seat.

"I'll have to be at the front of the train to receive instructions soon." Will said, looking at his watch. Cara frowned with clasped hands.

"That's lame. It can't be helped I guess. If you see Hunter on your way there...?"

"Sure thing. I'm sure Hunter's with Jessica if they're around, but I'll let 'em know you're here.. I'll be back as soon as I can." Then he was gone.

As the minutes went by, more students and their families arrived until it was completely crowded outside. The train whistle blew, warning everyone of our soon departure.

"It's not like Hunter to be late." Cara was obviously nervous about her friend's absence as she looked out the window.

"Who's Hunter?" I attempted to be social.

"Hunter's my best friend, and another Ravenclaw. Will's a Gryffindor, but we were neighbors growing up. He's practically family." A second whistle, final warning. Students began scrambling onto the train.

"We'll be living with two other girls in our dorm, and just a warning, they're a pain." Cara's expression darkened.

"That bad, huh?" Sean laughed. The train began to move. Parents and younger siblings could be seen waving to the passengers as we slowly gained speed. I eagerly released Mysti from her imprisonment and proceeded with dangling a loose string for her to chase.

"One is a complete stuck-up bitch, and the other is too dumb to notice. If it weren't for them, then the dorm would be perfect. We tend to ignore each other, and it works better that way."

"Sounds like a fun new home." Sighing with defeat, I leaned back and scratched my cat's ear, who had jumped into my lap. "So much attention to get, so little time." I snickered at Mysti. Her tail seemed to twitch with agreement.

"What are the teachers like?" Sean was trying to avoid an awkward silence.

"That all depends. What are your subjects?"

"Transfiguration, Charms, D.A.D.A..."

"Transfiguration is McGonagall. As you've seen for yourself, she's pretty strict and doesn't lack on giving homework, but she's also fair and brilliant. Also head of Gryffindor.

"Professor Flitwick is in Charms. Funny little guy, Head of Ravenclaw, but pretty easy going in class. I think it's because his age is catching up to him."

"What about Potions?" I interrupted eagerly, sitting up. Cara's reaction was not what I had hoped for.

"Snape is a greasy, biased git. He always favors his own house, while docking points all the time from those _not_ in Slytherin." I slumped back.

"Is he really that bad?"

"Worse. The entire Slytherin house is like that, too, so you know. I wish I could punch the whole lot."

"How's that possible?" Sean and I were shocked an entire House could get this girl worked up.

"They're so _proud_ of being pure-blooded, and not even half of them can claim that! They openly hate and bully Muggle-borns, and they strut around school like they own the place."

"I'll just have to stay out of trouble and be a silent prodigy, then." I gave a dramatic sigh out of humor to try and lighten the situation on my doomed future.

The door slid open, a petite dark-blonde girl stood there huffing with irritation.

"Sorry I'm late at getting here. Jess _insisted_ I stick with her for a while longer-" Her eyes widened when she saw me and Sean. "OH I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt any thing- but anyway so I was about to head this way but _Kast_ was causing trouble, picking on kids of course in the aisle so I decided to wait until the coast was clear, then I saw Will and we talked for a moment but he had to confiscate a Weasely product _already_ and that's how I found out where you were so I came." It was amazing she didn't breath that entire time.

"Smart move." Cara nodded and stretched. "So you saw Will's badge?"

"Yes! Oh my gosh it's so awesome! Except now he's probably going to be a party pooper."

"By the way Hunter, this here is Alex and Sean Fletcher. Transfers from the States. This," Cara motioned to the girl who was still standing in the doorway, "Is Hunter McKinley."

"Aah. Uh, so which is Sean and which is Alex?" Hunter eyed us nervously. I laughed at her confusion as we shook hands.

"I'm Alex. Alexis is my real name, but it's a tad too fancy for me so I like to keep it short and simple."

"She's rooming with us, and her brother made it into Gryffindor."

"Another Ravenclaw! You think they know to add an extra bed into the room? Do you think one will fit?"

"I'm sure they'll figure something out."

"Huh, so you two are new here. Even got the American accents! My dad's American, but I've spent my whole life here- Do you like it so far, here in Britain?"

"Oh, it's not too bad." I partially lied. It _was _starting to grow on me.

"What sort of classes are you taking?" So many questions! I noticed that she was wearing a long jacket, despite it being the end of summer. How weird.

"Uh, let's see... Care of Magical Creatures, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Potions, Herbology, Transf-"

"Move out of the way, _McKinley_. You're getting _dirt_ all over the aisle." A familiar harsh voice interrupted as a shadow appeared behind Hunter and shoved her into the room.

"Oi! Kast! Fuck off!" Cara stood up, her fists clenched.

I had no time to react. Everything moved in slow motion. Hunter fell forward, green eyes and mouth wide open with shock. Her arms flailed as she tried to regain balance, but we both knew it was too late when we made eye contact.

She landed face first onto my lap. On Mysti, actually. The impact woke her from her happy kitty slumber, her yowl of surprise and frustration was heard throughout the entire train car.

"Alex! You're cat-"

"She's leaving-"

"I know dammit! Mysti!" I jumped to my feet (poor Hunter was pulled by gravity again and toppled to the ground) and ran out the door closely after Mysti as the harsh voice laughed with glee.

I paid no attention to the shadows as I watched Mysti bolt towards the front of the train. My brief hope of her route being blocked by the closed door quickly changed as a group of girls walked through.

"Wait, stop the cat!" I hollered too late as their giggles turned into squeals. Mysti was a grey blur, students were starting to poke their heads out at the commotion. Not five minutes into the train ride, and something was already happening.

"Mysti you son of a bitch!" I couldn't contain my anger, I felt like I was at boiling point.

Dodging the useless girls, I entered the next car and saw Mysti had stopped in the middle of the walkway.

"Stupid cat, get your _ass_ back here," I panted. Then I saw why Mysti had stopped, making me freeze so as to not provoke.

Ahead stood a black cat. _Zach's_ cat. It's fur was on end and a deep growl came from the fierce looking creature. Mysti responded to the threat with one of her own growls and arching her back.

"What the- Oi! Mercury!" I turned and saw Zach Folsin standing behind me with Mr. Tall and who was apparently Kast. I gave them the meanest glare I could make.

A horrible yell signaled that the battle began. Chills ran down my spine.

"Cat fight!" A kid yelled.

"Shut up, you prick." I muttered. Pulling out my wand from my back pocket, I pointed at the fighting felines.

I issued a freezing charm just as a patch of fur flew off of Mercury. Their permanent looking snarls were intimidating, yet I felt relieved.

"Ha! What a mess!" Kast laughed. That bastard.

"Yes, what a mess." I scowled. I marched to the unmoving cats and, grabbing the scruff of their necks, peeled them apart. _Why are there so many people in here? Don't they have anything better to do?_

As I continued to hold each cat by their scruff, I marched back to Zach.

"Here." I shoved the black cat into his chest. "Try putting a leash on that thing, its attitude is worse than a troll."

Zach looked surprised at my aggression.

"You're one to talk, _your_ cat ran loose." He said cooly. his calm appearance was infuriating.

"She got loose because some _genius_ was trying to be _cute_ by starting a fight-"

"You better learn real quick who you're talking to, Yankee." Kast's voice lowered almost to a growl, trying to establish authority. I intentionally laughed in his face. In the back of my mind I couldn't understand why this Alexis was behaving this way. I never got into arguments with strangers, never. I cowered, apologized and ran with my tail between my legs. But this... This was exhilarating.

"_Who_ you are doesn't mean shit to me. And _you_ need to learn how to talk to _me,_ you pompous ass. I'm no fucking Yankee, they're from the north. Learn some shit."

I wanted to go back to my seat, curl up and cry now. But too many people... Hunter, Cara and Sean were standing behind Mr. Tall, Folsin and Kast. Sean's mouth was in an "O," surprise written all over his face.

"I've had enough of this, ready to head back?" I calmly asked my brother as I clutched Mysti close to my body.

"Uh, yeah, ok..."

I had to walk by the Infuriating Trio (more like duo, since Mr. Tall-Still-No-Name didn't say a word the whole time), so I took a deep breath and made my way to the back.

I could feel Kast's eyes burning into me, so I recklessly, intentionally, bumped into him. Hard.

"Oops, sorry there," I said with a blank stare as Kast fell onto his butt. "Careful, man, you might've gotten some _mud_ on your shoulder there. I'm sure your family would be _devastated_." I smirked then continued on my way.

"Hurry," Hunter grabbed my hand and started dragging me back to our room.

"Hey chill, I'm coming I'm coming-"

"I can't _believe_ you did that. And to Kast of all of them!"

"He opened his mouth, I told him to shut it, then I accidentally bumped into him. I don't see what the big deal is..." Huh, maybe I took it too far.

"His family are high up, a bunch of Purebloods and highly respected and feared. He can put you in." Cara said next.

"If he's the type of guy who'll run to his parents because he can't stand up for himself, he doesn't deserve the respect of a human being." Sean said sullenly. I stared at him as we all settled back down in our seats. Mysti was locked up and the blinds were closed.

"Thanks, Sean. I can't believe you actually agree."

"_I_ can't believe you actually fought back! Usually you just..."

"Do nothing." I grinned. "I run and hide, I avoid conflicts, or hide behind someone to save me."

"You probably picked the wrong group to grow balls on, though that was a hell of a show." Cara admitted.

The door slide open, and I jumped to my feet with my wand out. It was only Will, staring at me with widened eyes.

"I'm not sure what I did..."

"Sorry, I thought you were someone else."

"Who are you trying to curse after ten minutes into the ride?"

"No one special." I snorted at my own joke.

"Alex got into a fight with the Slytherins." Cara said.

"Tattle tale." I rolled my eyes. "And we didn't actually fight. Wands weren't drawn, not at each other anyway. I'd say it was more a... More of a display of dominance. Laying down the rules and boundaries."

"With Slytherins? Geez Alex."

"Hey now! _Folsin's_ cat and mine got into a fight because (Kast? Was that his name?) got stupid with his mouth. Then he tried to insult me like we were in middle school or something."

"No matter, what's done is done." Gosh, this was embarrassing. Everyone thought I was crazy. Maybe I am.

"It was bound to happen." Hunter seem to absent-mindedly rub her stomach. "That lot is always getting into trouble with Kast taking the lead and dragging poor Folsin and Wright along."

"_Poor_ Folsin and Wright choose to follow the git." Cara was trying to give Hunter a knowing look, but Hunter only ignored her.

Will began talking about returning to the front, he was only here because someone reported a commotion, and Sean pinned Cara's conversation asking questions about other students.

I sat next to the window again with Sean beside me and Hunter and Cara across. Hunter was still petting her stomach. How strange...

Sighing with exhaustion, my adrenaline and energy all used up, I leaned my forehead on the window and breathed a circle of fog.

School shouldn't be this dramatic.

* * *

**A/N: Yikes, Alexis is pretty emotional. Then again, I slightly recall getting easily worked up in my teenage years, too... Tis just a phase! If you liked it, lemme know! If you didn't, lemme know (maturely) with constructive advice! I may be writing mostly for myself, but I would like to see how to make others more intrigued with this story**


	5. Hogwarts

**A/N: I have no ownership of the Harry Potter series. The contents of this fanfic are original properties of J.K. Rowling, excluding my own OCs.**

* * *

Throughout the train ride I took naps and cuddled with the agitated Mysti. Halfway through the day a snack trolley came through, allowing Sean and I to trade our chocolate frog cards with Hunter and Cara. We also experimented with Bertie Bott's Every Flavored Beans- my brother's face was priceless when he bit into a paprika flavored bean.

An announcement was made through the train that we were approaching Hogwarts, and to prepare disembarking.

I was grateful I had stuffed a robe in my backpack as a "just-in-case." We pulled the robes over what we were already wearing in the cramped space.

"Ok Mercy, c'mere." Hunter finally opened her jacket and exposed a giant red and grey bat.

"Holy shit, you've been keeping _that_ in your jacket?" I asked in wonder.

"This is Mercy, short for murciélago." Hunter answered with a smile. Its claws were hooked onto her sides, latched on like a baby monkey. "He's a fox bat. Technically we're not allowed to have them at school, but he's as functional as an owl and helps pollinate the plants in the greenhouse. He's also great for when you're out at night."

"Not that we're out at night or anything." Cara gave Hunter a warning glance. I pretended not to notice.

Hunter grabbed the end of each wing and held him up. He just dangled from her grasp, hanging like a lazy sloth. He looked at us with beady eyes, blinking with confusion.

"He's _huge_. What is that, a three-feet wingspan?" Sean asked.

"Pretty much. Last time I measured him was around this time last year, and he hasn't gotten much bigger since." Hunter gently placed Mercy on the storage shelves above so she could finish getting ready.

I was still rubbing sleep out of my eyes by the time we got off and loaded onto a bunch of horseless carriages.

"Wake-up, Alex." Sean said next to me. "If you keep this up with all this sleeping, you won't sleep later tonight."

"Yeah, well, I doubt I'll be sleeping well anyways." I muttered. "It's a pity I didn't bring NyQuil, I could use some help passing out."

"NyQuil?" Will asked when he boarded into the carriage. Sean was about to reprimand my desire for drug abuse, so I was grateful of the Gryffindor's arrival.

"It's originally for using as a cold medicine, and helps you to sleep at night. It's a Muggle remedy." I added, noting his confusion.

"Ah, that's right. Your mum is Muggle." I must have slept through that conversation. "What about your dad?"

"Muggle. A dead one, died in a car accident long ago." An old story. It's amazing how it always shocks people.

"Aw, I'm sorry to hear that! Did it happen before or after you were admitted to High Pointe?" Cara asked.

"After both of us have gone. We were at school when-"

"OH!" Hunter suddenly spoke with surprise. At first I thought the moving carriage was what startled her. "I get it! You're Muggle-born, that's why you mentioned the mud being on Kast!"

Her burst took a moment to process.

"You referred to yourself as a... As a _mudblood_?" Will asked, obviously struggling to say the 'M' word.

I couldn't help but laugh, it all just seemed too funny.

"Yes," I grinned. "I'll sing it loud and proud. It's a pretty common term back at home, the word is treated very lightly. I guess it's like the 'N' word, if you think about it."

"'N' word? 'N' word for what?" Cara asked.

"If you don't know, then don't worry about it." Sean casually waved his hand.

"Mudblood is very serious here. Slytherins love to abuse that word. Unfortunately, they're clever enough to not say it around the professors, so they never get in trouble." Hunter scoffed. "I'm only half, so I'm not 'qualified' for them to throw that word at me, but I'm far from being excused by their insults."

"As long as there isn't another Basilisk lurking around, you have absolutely nothing to worry about from the Slytherins, Hunts." said Will.

"A- a basilisk?" I almost had a coughing fit.

"Salazar had one monster, not two." Cara said. "Besides, the only thing we really would need to worry about is if the Heir of Slytherin re-appeared."

My head was spinning. Is this some joke? What the hell kind of school holds a deadly basilisk?

"And we know that the heir won't be stepping on these grounds as long as Dumbledore is with us." Cara finished.

"Wah, so the snake was loose on the grounds?!" Sean's face was pale. He had an unfortunate fear of serpents. "Where is it now?!"

"Dead in the Chambers of Secrets." Will grinned. "Killed by none other than Harry Potter himself."

Sean and I were both silent for several seconds, the bumpy carriage noise filling in the dead air.

"Wait. So, he's all, like, real and stuff, right?"

"Uh... Yes."

"How old was he when he killed it, then?"

"Not sure, but he was definitely a student."

"So you're saying an underaged wizard defeated it."

"Well... He's Harry Potter." Was Will's defense.

"He's been legendary since he was an infant! So it's no surprise he could accomplish that task."

"You're telling me that he marched up to the snake, waved his wand and it died."

"Well, he wasn't exactly going out of his way." Will frowned at my reluctance to believe such an off-the-wall story. "He went down to rescue another student."

"Ah." I still wasn't convinced. "I think Hogwarts, A History failed to mention that story. LaVine was right to say it was out of date."

"Oooooh Alex, Sean." Hunter changed the subject. She seemed to be a pro at that. "Switch with me and Cara. I think you should see the castle from here."

Intrigued to see my first castle, the four of us struggled with swapping seats. I managed to beat Sean to the window seat, and what I saw left me breathless.

Although the sun had mostly set, the towers still left the school grounds in shadows, emphasizing its magnificence. Several lit windows glowed in the growing darkness, allowing me to compare their size to the rest of the castle.

"Ok. This is my first time seeing a castle, and I must say that I'm very impressed." I grinned. My friend Liz would be so jealous!

Shortly afterwards, the carriage stopped at the castle entrance. Stepping out, I followed Cara and Hunter up the stairs into the entrance hall as the two spoke amiably about the feast. Will and Sean followed closely behind us, talking about Quidditch.

The instant we were indoors, the smell of food cooking hit me. The aroma appeared to have woken my stomach, because it suddenly made an embarrassingly loud grumble that could be heard over the many students meandering through the Entrance Hall. Hunter and Cara stopped to stare with surprise as everyone, including the two boys who are absorbed with their conversation, walked around us.

"Uh," I blushed. "Yeah, My stomach tends to be pretty vocal, even when it's not empty. Sorry..."

"Don't worry." Hunter giggled. "There will be plenty of food. We will just have to wait until after the first years are sorted."

"I hope there isn't a lot. I don't feel like waiting for forever and a day." Cara groaned as we continued into what was the Great Hall.

My jaw dropped in amazement for the second time that evening. Floating candles gave light to the five tables below them. Each table had a banner with each House's mascot: Snake, badger, raven, and lion. The fifth table that sat across the room was draped in purple cloth and had the school crest above it.

The true display wasn't the candles, nor the proud banners, nor the occasional ghost that made the shadowed corners sparkle. It was the ceiling. It looked as if the dining hall simply opened up to the heavens, mimicking the sky outside.

"It sure is something, isn't it?" Will showed back up next to us.

"Where's Sean?" I instantly asked. I felt nervous not having my brother nearby- he was my only connection to the world I loved and missed.

"Back at the Gryffindor table, we're having to sit with those of our house. I'm needing to make some round to make sure everything is set, so I'll be back. Excuse me."

Feeling bummed about not being able to sit with my brother, I trudged after the girls and sat next to Cara, opposite of Hunter.

"Oi, who's the new face?" A guy with a black fro asked us from across the table.

"Alexis is from the States, she had to transfer for the year." Cara answered for me.

"And you were already sorted?" The guy's friend with short, light brown hair spoke up.

"Yeah, I met one of the teachers at Diagon Alley during summer break. They figured sorting there would cause much less of a scene than here."

"I see. I didn't know they did that."

"Well, how often do we get transfers?" Hunter asked. "Either you've already lived in this area or you're just a guest."

They continued to talk, changing the subject to their summers. I took the opportunity to look around some more.

In front of me were the Hufflepuff and Slytherin tables, with Slytherin being the furthest. Hufflepuff certainly seemed like a pleasant group, whereas the Slytherins looked dark and moody.

Looking behind, I saw Sean not far down his table. His back was to me, so he couldn't see my attempts at getting his attention.

_He certainly looks like he's having fun,_ I thought gloomily. He gave a loud laugh with his new group of friends. Sighing, I took a look at the staff table.

Several teachers were already seated, one of them being LeVine. She was talking to an extremely short old man, almost at a comical level. Snickering at my own pun in my head, I made a mental note to ask Cara if he was the Professor Flitwick.

My eyes stopped again halfway along the Staff Table, seeing an old man almost hidden behind a podium. Unlike Professor Flitwick, this man appeared tall and thin. His head seemed to be bobbing to a tune that only he heard, his half-moon lenses reflecting the candle light with each tilt and his fingers tapped to the muted tempo.

The student tables quickly filled up, the hall surrounded by a low buzz from peers catching up with each other. My stomach gave another low growl, much to Hunter's amusement.

The buzz dropped to a low whisper when an extremely large man entered, carrying a stool and the unmistakable sorting hat. The hat looked to be the size of a coaster compared to the rest of the man. My jaw began to drop, but fixed myself so as to not appear rude.

"That's Hagrid." Cara answered my wordless question. "He's gamekeeper and professor for Care of Magical Creatures."

"He's a joke," Fro-Man said with a snort.

"He has good intentions." Hunter frowned at him.

"If he's here, then so are the first years. McGonagall will show up soon with them to be sorted."

I watched as Hagrid took the stool and hat to the front of the dining hall and popped the hat on top. While my eyes were upfront, everyone else watched the door for the new students.

_Thank God they had me and Sean sorted already_, I thought as I changed my focus._ I'd have a panic attack if I had to enter the school like this._

The doors opened again and Professor McGonagall entered, closely followed by several terrified eleven-year-olds. I was reminded of my first day of school in the new world of magic, which reminded me of my old school and my old friends.

Missing Elizabeth, I rested my head on my hand and began thinking up a rough draft letter to send her. I was so absorbed in my thoughts that I didn't realize until too late that the hat had sung a song. The applause was what woke me from my daydreaming.

"When I call your name," McGonagall summoned a scroll. " I want you to come forward to be sorted."

"Hey," Fro-man guy started. "Did you all hear about the Death Eaters in Diagon Alley?"

"I read something about it in the paper," Hunter frowned slightly. "But it wasn't very informative."

"We were actually there," Cara signaled herself and me. "Alex in fact was in the middle of it."

"Uh, yeah. Pretty much." I forced a smile, feeling shy and awkward. "It was bad, they plowed over me and my brother. We were twigs compared to giants."

"What were they like?" Brown Hair . I seriously need to figure out these people's names. I scowled in response.

"Like any typical Death Eater would be. Dangerous, obnoxious, and arrogant." The small group of people around us who could hear the quiet conversation snickered with agreement.

"Don't you know what this means?" Brown Hair continued with widened eyes. "It means You-Know-Who is starting to take action. He's making his next moves, coming out of hiding."

We were silent. The hat's voice announced _HUFFLEPUFF!_ and was followed by applause.

"That's great." I said, rubbing my palms together as if warming up for an event. "Looks like I got here right on time to watch Hell unfold. Mom will be so pleased."

Cara gave a loud snort in an attempt to hold her laugh. The sound echoed in the hall, earning a sharp glare our direction from McGonagall.

"Oops, sorry." I giggled. I was surprised at how I otherwise felt comfortable in this strange new environment, despite the threat of war ready to break.

"Well, I overheard my dad talking to mum over breakfast that one of them was caught early this morning. He admitted during interrogation they didn't even get what they were sent for."

We all got quiet again as McGonagall picked up the stool in one hand, and with the old hat in the other hand, walked out through the doors she entered.

The tall man I noticed earlier stood up. His white beard was long, falling past his belt.. An enthusiastic, yet tired, smile lit up his face. The expression told me he was excited for this next part of the evening, much like the students.

"Welcome friends, old and new! Let's not worry about filling our heads yet, and instead fill our bellies. Dig in!"

With a wave of his hands, piles of food appeared on the tables, the wood creaked at the sudden weight.

"Now _this_ is my kind of magic." I said gleefully.

I dug into the food, stacking my plate with baked chicken leg, potatoes, corn... I lost count of all the food and drinks I consumed that night.

During the feast, I was able to catch up with the wizarding world over the summer. Crabbe and Goyle apparently weren't the only incident. Other unconfirmed Death Eaters had been spotted, people disappeared from their homes or woke up to find their houses were ransacked. Nothing was ever reported as missing, so clues couldn't be made as to what the Dark Followers were searching for.

Full from the meal, I leaned forward with my elbows propped on the table. Giving a content sigh at my comfort, I craved the chairs back at High Pointe. They were arranged to seat a single person at a time and had backs so that one could recline slightly. Here at Hogwarts, we shared benches. The inability to relax properly was putting stress on my bulging gut.

I blearily watched my new peers interact. The hairs on the back of my neck tingled, indicating I was being watched. My eyes immediately sought out Zach Folsin and made eye contact before he averted his own eyes. Frowning, I pretended to focus my attention to Hunter and Fro-man's conversation.

The room instantly became silent when Dumbledore stood up a second time.

"I hope you have all been well fed and watered! Now, some rules...

"To the new, our Black Forest is strictly forbidden to all students. For those who have returned to us, the Black Forest is strictly forbidden to _all_ students. Anyone caught trespassing into the woods will be disciplined accordingly.

"Hallway rules will be posted on Mr. Lee's office door, so you can look at your leisure all the banned items.

"If you have any questions in regards to Quidditch tryouts, please take them up with your House Team Captain or your Head of House.

"There are rumors of Dark acts among ourselves. Families, friends and neighbors are all affected. I urge that if you become concerned or suspicious of an issue, please consult a staff member, our Prefects or our Head Boy and Girl. These are times that cannot be fooled with, so our trust and protection for one another are vital.

"Finally, on a happier note, I am please to announce we are to have a ball this Halloween! Your head of House will provide further details at a later time.

"Enough of my rambles. I'm sure you are all tired! Go to bed, and be well rested for tomorrow."

The sound of benches scraping on the ground intensified as all the students stood up and began to head to their dorms.

"I wonder..." Hunter started, but trailed off as she focused on her thought.

"You wonder?" Cara pushed.

"Well, I was still wondering if Alex would have a bed. Our room has been big enough for four girls, but five now?"

What if they forgot to add a bed? Would I have to sleep in another room? Share a bed with one of the girls? On the floor? My forehead furrowed with concern, but I was too tired to discuss it.

The more stairs we climbed, the heavier my legs became. I was having a hard time imagining going up and down these stairs every day to my classes. High Pointe had a couple of floors dedicated to each year, so climbing stairs wasn't as much of an exercise, despite the school being inside a mountain.

My state of delirium made me miss the questioning statue, the blue-draped common room, and the continuous travel up more stairs to our room. The only memory I had from after the feast was the vague image of Mysti, purring contentedly on my bed as I collapsed next to her fully clothed, wondering what my friends back at home were doing at that very moment.

* * *

**A/N: I don't have my Harry Potter books with me any more, a family member has them and lives out of state D: so I wasn't able to go back in the books and make sure I wasn't copying directly from The Sorcerer's Stone. Some of the moments feel ****_real_**** familiar, but I can't tell if it's because Rowling had actually written them, or the moment was repeated in my head multiple times. Please let me know if it's too similar to the book, and in what way. T_T Thanks so much!**


	6. Quidditch Try-Out

**A/N: I have no ownership of the Harry Potter series. The contents of this fanfic are original properties of J.K. Rowling, excluding my own OCs.**

* * *

The first week of classes went by quickly, but not quietly. I was proven that my education and understanding of wand-work was far behind compared to the rest of the Hogwarts seventh years. Hunter and Cara took pity on me, and offered to help tutor me during their spare time after classes.

Potions was still my specialty, however the Slytherin Head of House and Potion Master, Severus Snape, was far from impressed. The poor relationship between Slytherin and the other Houses worsened when I managed to one-up Zach for everyone to see. Add that with preparing for Quidditch try-outs, I was more than ready for a peaceful and relaxing weekend.

"Ladies and gents! I very much appreciate your willingness to try out and join our exceptional Quidditch team!" The Team Captain Michael King (Mr. Brown Hair) was pacing on the ground, hands clasped behind his back, addressing the auditioners and well-wishers as if they were his court. "Though there are many of you, few will make it. A Chaser, one Beater, and a Keeper are to fill in nearly half our team. Not only will you have to prove yourself to be a good player, but a good _teammate_ as well. We'll have to watch each others backs, not just our own, while we're on the field.

"We'll first test everyone individually. Whoever passses the basics will team u pwith our members and it will be decided from there who stays.

"I'll call off the names on this list- if you haven't signed your name, do it now before we begin."

A few people from the bleachers we sat at hurried up front. I leaned towards Hunter, who sat to my right.

"Is he usually so... Formal?" I giggled.

"Only when he's in front of a crowd." She grinned.

"Hm. I've never really seen him talk in class."

"He's just shy. Once he's comfortable, he's popping out jokes like you wouldn't believe." Cara said to my left. "He's probably one of the funniest guys in our year."

"Really?" Funny? I liked funny guys. I can look, now that my friend Elizabeth confirmed my crush Just was already seeing an exchange girl from the Philippines. There was no use brooding over that loss.

Hunter understood the expression on my face and raised an eyebrow. "If you're thinking about going out with him, you'll have to wait in line. He's the girls the most popular guy in school."

"Not entirely true." I turned left again. "A lot of girls in the restroom yesterday were saying how Aist had actually grown and matured over the summer. He's catching up with Michael here."

"Huh, haven't noticed." Hunter picked at a loose twig from her broom.

"It's not like it'll do me any good, pursuing a guy. I mean, I'm only here for the year. The only thing that gives me an upper hand is I'm a new face and have the horrible American accent."

Michael began calling names and the try-out started. There were several students who listed for the Chaser position. For Beater, there was myself and three others, and Keeper had three. One boy who looked like he was in Second Year signed up for each position.

As it got closer to the Beater portion of trying out, my stomach became more queasy.

"Ohhhhhh." I moaned and clutched my stomach. "Why does there have to be so many people here."

Cara laughed and patted my back awkwardly. "There's probably only about twenty-five, thirty people here."

"That's thirty too many."

"Alright, Beaters! Fletcher, Jackson, McMillan, Hall. Line up."

"Good luck!" Hunter and Cara cheered for me as I stood with my broom in hand.

I stumbled my way down and stood next to the three boys I was competing against, tripping when I reached them. That earned me embarrassing laughter from the stands.

Two of the guys were tall and bulky, like football players. I didn't think I had a chance against them. The third was the small second year. If we didn't just see him try out for a chaser position, I would have thought the wind alone would push him off his broom.

"What I'll have you four do is team up. Two versus two, and see who can handle the bludgers best."

"We're using real bludgers?" The tallest asked.

_If you plan on using a real broomstick to fly with..._ I wanted to say, but instead snickered.

"Just one for now," Michael raised both eyebrows at the question, glancing at my noise before continuing.

"I see you all have your own brooms, good. Well, mount up. Fletcher and Hall are teamed, Jackson and McMillan, you're together."

Hall ended up being Mr. Dumb Questions.

"Great. Hopefully you're better in air than on your feet." Hall scoffed. What an asshole! Hearing that come from a Sixth year... Grr.

"Hopefully you're better with your arm than your brain." I said without thinking twice. The guy only frown slightly when Michael dropped the crate at our feets.

"I'll give you five seconds before I release the bludger. So on your marks," We mounted our brooms. "Get set," My grip tightened, I steadied my breathing, making my mind blank. "Go!"

The four of us shot into the air. The wind blew on my face as I took another breath of fresh, warm air, my nerves left behind on the ground. This is what I'm here on the field trying out for. The game. That moment of delicious victory.

"Releasing the bludger!" Michael's voice could be heard below. I watched as he kicked the crate and the black ball flew straight up, whistling past us. Cheers came from the bleachers.

"Let's go, yankee!" Hall yelled as he flew towards the ball.

"Why, when it's coming here?" I hollered back, watching the bludger curve. Sure enough, the bludger was aiming for our direction. Hall had to twist out of the way. I strengthened my grip on my bat, my jaw tightened, and I swung.

A solid sound confirmed a hit was made. I was in heaven.

"What happened, kid? I thought you had it?" I laughed as we followed it. McMillan made the second hit, and the battle began.

I wasn't sure how long we were in the air. It never crossed my mind to look at my watch. I was having so much fun fighting over the bludger, trying to knock off the boys off their brooms and dodging the ones sent my way. Michael signalled for us to return to the ground with the whistle around his neck.

When we landed, I realized how hard I was panting. Playing Quidditch was physically exhausting, so I felt like I had ran a marathon.

Michael was talking to the rest of his team. As they debated, I tried to decide which of us four would make it.

Hall was all muscles. He wasn't bad in the air and could maneuver well, but he was too straightforward on the field.

Jackson, the second year, was small and agile. Every time the bludger aimed for him, he flew out of the way instead of aiming for it. He would have been better suited for Seeker had the position been available.

McMillan was probably the best of us. He was slow, but his accuracy was almost always on the dot. _I wonder if I can aim as well as him if I practiced enough... Well, at least I had fun with the tryout. Not playing Quidditch, though... That's gonna hurt._

Michael turned to face us. Hunter behind him was wiggling around with excitement.

"Sam McMillan and Alexis Fletcher, congratulations, you've made it to round two. Go ahead and take a seat, rest up. Hall, Jackson, you two did good."

"I want a second try." Hall demanded. Shit, man, now what?

"You already tried. You don't match the qualifications of a Beater. Maybe if you-"

"If I sucked, it wasn't my fault, things got in the way-" He made an obvious glare in my direction. Oh, uh-uh. No way is he going to put the blame on me! What did I do to earn his hate?

"If you were hindered by a girl, then you have no one to blame but yourself. If a big guy like yourself was stopped by someone as small as her, you don't have a chance against a whole team. Got it?" Michael's authority kicked in and got into Hall's face. All I could do was stare in disbelief. "I don't know how anyone as dense as you got into Ravenclaw, get off my field."

Hall slammed the bat down. "You need me!"

"I don't need you, nor your attitude. Now clear off." Halls' fists clenched and his face turned into an angry red color.

"Oi, enough. C'mon." One of his friends grabbed for his elbow. Hall yanked it out of reach, gave everyone nearby a final look, and stopped back to the field.

Michael sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Ii just wanted a simple, quick try-out. Is that so much to ask for?"

Realizing I've been holding my breath for an unknown amount of time, I slowly exhaled.

"Well," I said. "It's either things are simple now and complicated later, or you can get as much drama B.S. out of the way and have less of it to deal with later when it matters."

"Agreed." Hunter stood next to me and gave me a hug. "You alright?"

"I'm in one piece," I laughed nervously. "You may wanna share that hug with Hall, I think he needs it more."

"Let's go sit, we have to wait for the Keeper tryouts." Hunter looped her arm around mine. As she dragged me to the bleachers, I shot a look of "Thanks," to Michael. He nodded with a small smile and went back to work.

"Congratulations!" Cara said when we approached her.

"Don't congratulate me yet, that was the easy part. Now I have to go against McMillan, and he's good."

"He has to be good with everyone else, too." Hunter reminded me.

Keeper's tryouts were quick. Only one guy, Steve Greenberg, managed to consistently keep the Quaffle from going through the hoops.

"Bloody hell, what are they doing here?" Cara scowled. Looking back where Hall disappeared to, green and silver cloaks were walking towards us.

"Slytherin?" I asked out loud. "Do they have tryouts too?"

"Maybe, but Michael won't be happy. He specifically booked the field so we won't get interrupted." Hunter said sadly. "I'll be back..." She hurried back to her captain.

"This place is just full of chaos, geez." I stretched to help loosen my tight muscles. There's just too much stress for a Saturday. I was craving my comfy bed already and it wasn't even lunch time.

Michael could be heard muttering encouragement to the new Keeper, then began strolling to the oncoming group with his head held high.

"I gotta give Michael credit, he has balls. I kinda wish I could be there to listen..."

"Think again," Cara pointed. "Last thing you need is a brawl with Kast."

"What? He plays? What position?"

"Keeper." She said said solemnly. "And a damn good one, too."

The remainder of the Ravenclaw team hurried after Michael. The captain for Slytherin laughed at Michael's words and shook his head with a sneer.

Several minutes they argued, arms waving and voices rising. Finally, Hunter started running back.

"They're staying, they say they need to practice, but refuses to leave until we're done, so they're going to watch the rest of tryouts." She was breathless. Everyone sitting nearby began to mutter.

"Why are they bothering with us? We haven't done anything-"

"If they want to harass someone, they need to go see the Gryffindors-"

"What a bunch of twats." I said. "I would love nothing more than to swing my bat and-" An idea came to mind. A horrible one that would mostly likely get me into trouble.

"Hey Cara." I whispered. "How sturdy are these stands?"

"They're pretty strong, manage to survive the winter storms and-" She looked confused at my whispering.

"Sturdy enough against a bludger?" I felt my face flush with the thrill of being reckless. Cara's eyes widened.

"Are you serious?"

"I'm not gonna win against McMillan, I know it. So, might as well have fun if the Greens get too rowdy."

"Just be careful." She hissed as the rest of the Ravenclaw team, with the Slytherins, walked up.

"Is this what you have? What a sorry bunch!" Pete Kast announced as he began climbing the bleachers with his broom slung over his shoulder. He and the rest were pushing the poor Ravenclaws out of the way as they made route to the top seats.

"I have never wanted to hurt someone as badly as him. Never." I stared at the seat in front of me, refusing to look at them in case I would inadvertently provoke an argument.

"Alright everyone. Auditioners and team, upfront please." Michael's voice sounded strained. I took a sharp intake- I felt my stomach drop.

"You'll be fine." Cara encouraged me. Ravenclaws were still muttering quietly about the unwelcomed guests.

"Thanks," I stood up, forcing myself to breath slowly. I was never one to handle stress well. All this excitement was bound to give me a heart attack.

"Look out, boys! Keep your cloaks close, you don't want to get _mud_ on them!" Pete's mock seemed to echo from behind. Cara looked scared as I stopped, and only a few people caught on to what he said. Oh, it's on.

"I'm sorry Kast, but I can't seem to understand what you're implying at." I turned slowly and gave my sweetest smile. Pete was sitting in front of the Slytherin team, and I immediately noticed Kenway and Zach sitting the row behind him.

"You're not stupid, are you? And you better not make eye contact with me, a Mudblood such as yourself needs to learn her place while in the presence of a Pureblood like myself!"

Dead silence. Everyone heard it. I only continued to smile.

"Say that again?"

"Mudblood." He spoke the word with disdain dripping off each syllable, misunderstanding my dare. I gave a malicious laugh and hopped up the bleachers to him. A few of the Slytherins readied to pull out their wands.

"Ooh, Petey baby! I just love it when you talk dirty! C'mon, lemme hear ya say it again." I straddled the bench that sat right in front of them. All the Slytherins were shocked into confusion.

"You're disgusting." Pete scowled. I clicked my tongue.

"Funny, the only piece of scum I see is sitting in front of me." I stood back up. "You better not talk to me, Kast. A dumbass such as yourself wouldn't be able to comprehend the smart-ass comments I have to offer."

I casually turned my back to them and walked down the steps. I heard scuffling behind us and Pete's attempt at a curse, but I pretended not to hear a thing. Walking by Katy, I winked.

"Be ready to dodge."

I was practically skipping when I was next to Hunter. Her and the others were staring at me in wonder.

"What did he say? What did you say?"

"Huh? Oh, he's just wishing me luck the only way that Pete Kast can." I grinned, despite my nerves shaking me relentlessly. "It's all cool, don't worry."

"Either way, we need to be careful." Michael said. "We still don't know what their intentions are, so we have to stay on our toes."

"They don't _have_ intentions." Anthony Sabec, the other Beater, said. He glanced at the green group who began hissing loudly. "Their goals in life is to piss everyone off that's in a fifteen mile radius."

"It doesn't matter. We're here and we have a job to do. You and you, you're starting with us first as Group One. You other two, Group Two, stay on the ground until you hear three short tweets, that's when you all switch. Got it?"

"Got it." Everyone replied.

"Excellent. Let's mount up and head out!"

"See you in the air!" Hunter called to me before flying off.

I was left as Group Two with the potential Sixth year Chaser named Seth Chadwick.

"So you've played before?"

"Yeah, for two years back at the Rockies. You?"

"Sometimes if they needed a reserve. I'm wanting to be on the team for good this time. One game a year just isn't enough, you know?"

"No kidding! It was torture even for the summer. I was stuck in the middle of Muggle London, so my brother and I were cooped up for two months."

"Oh yes, your brother... Sean? He's in Gryffindor, right? I have had him in Transfiguration and Charms, he seems pretty funny."

"Yeah, he's funny unless you've lived with him for almost sixteen years." I smiled. I wasn't taking my eyes off McMillan. He seemed to have a hard time dealing with the boos from behind.

"Ha, I suppose so. Is he going for Quidditch?"

"If there's a position for a Chaser, then yes. But if we're both playing then it'll be so weird. We've always played for the same team, but never against each other."

"Take advantage of the strategy." Seth casually suggested in a pleasant tone. I saw at the corner of my eye his smile turning into a frown. "I really wish that lot would shut up."

Three tweets signaled for us to join. "Let's give them something to shout about!" I jumped onto my broom and flew up in seconds, quickly replacing McMillon.

Hunter was passing the Quaffle with ease to Cameron, who aimed for the goal. The new Keeper blocked it with ease and threw it back out. The Slytherins began to holler and stomp in an attempt to distract us.

"Come on, try harder!" Steve challenged. Michael, our Seeker, hovered above, watching like a hawk at our work. A bludger was aiming for his back, but I was nowhere close.

"Anthony! Get Michael!" I yelled as I booked it towards him. Anthony's look of concentration did not break as he hurried to Michael. The Slytherin group were deafening.

In the split second that was left, I judged Anthony's angle and sped to anticipate the new route for the bludger.

Glancing at the second bludger to make sure it was out of the way, I hurried to the visitor side, passing Hunter.

"Hey-!"

The sound of a bat-on-bludger echoed in the Quidditch field, my grip on my broom tightened as I prepared to turn sharply.

"Heads up, Fletcher!"

I took a single deep breath before I swung my arm forward as I turned to give me more power. My body reverberated on impact and the bludger shot like a bullet right for my intended target.

The Slytherins scattered like birds, their taunting shouts turned into yells of surprise and confusion when the benches splintered.

I rewarded myself with a brief 'whoop' before making way to the other bludger threatening the Chasers. As the tryout continued between Group One and Group Two, I did my best to ignore the stand and remained focused on my attempts to rescue or unseat the team.

Finally Michael blew the whistle harshly to announce the end of the session. When we landed, Hunter was immediately by my side.

"Oh my gosh, I can't believe you actually aimed for the Slytherins!"

"I don't think I know what you're talking about," I shrugged at her. Before she could respond, the Team Captain began to talk.

"Not bad, not bad at all everyone." Michael's broom was propped on his shoulder. "It looks like we have a hell of a choice to make, you all have proven you have skill. So what we'll do is Hunter, Anthony, Cameron and myself will have a meeting after lunch to choose who we think will fit their role best. Results should be posted in the common room over the weekend, so try and keep an eye out. In the meantime, relax and catch up on homework. Goodluck!"

And with that, we were dismissed. I dared a glance where the Slytherins were, but the seats were empty.

"Thank God for that being over. Wanna help tutor me while I fix the stand?"

"Sure!" Hunter answered. We went up to meet Cara, who was restless with excitement.

"That was bloody brilliant, Alex. They had no idea what was going on."

"Sweet.. You didn't get hurt, did you?" I wanted to make sure my new friend wasn't a damaged bystander in my revenge.

"No harm done." She waved her hand casually. "Shall we fix this up then head to lunch?"

The seats looked as good as new by the time we headed to the dining hall, chatting away enthusiastically.

"You have my full support filling in for Beater." Hunter shared. "Even if hitting the Slytherins was luck, we could still use that in our games."

"Aww, our lucky charm!" Cara giggled. I laughed.

"If anything, I worsened everything. Slytherin I'll be pissed and will want to get even."

"They can't do anything too serious. Besides, they probably went to a professor instead to do the work for them." Hunter said. I felt my hands go cold and my face paled.

"To... To the teachers?"

"May Snape have mercy upon your soul!" Seth was suddenly behind us, making us squeal with fright.

"Oi!"

"Oi back at you. I just came here to give Alex my personal gratitude for bombing the snakes."

"Heh, anytime." I said awkwardly, scratching the back of my head. "I know I shouldn't have vented the poor bludger onto those Greens, but I really don't think I could have stopped myself if I tried."

"You did a good job on the field yourself!" Hunter added in. "Did you practice over summer break?"

Regaining my appetite from the tryout nerves, I ate my fill of lunch before we made our way back to the common room. We didn't get far from the dining hall, because Michael and Cameron were already waiting for Hunter in the Entrance.

"Shoot, I completely forgot." Hunter muttered.

"We can get your things and meet you in the library," Cara offered. Hunter nodded her head.

"Awesome, thanks. I'll see you two later, then." The petite girl practically slumped to the two waiting.

* * *

**A/N: Ahhh, I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. Sorry if it seemed cut off randomly at the end. Originally it was longer, but I figured it was a tad too long for a single chapter. Review please! I hate to be asking for one, but the only review I got was from someone accusing my story being a Mary-Sue. I'm trying to keep that from happening... Too much. How else is the main character going to be interesting? If she's inadequate at everything, then that'll just make my story even more boring. My goal is to have Alexis progress, learn, and overall become a better person through trial-and-error. Suggestions are welcome, I fully support positive criticism. Just, like, don't be a jerk about it. Kay? 3**


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